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Last year, I committed to spending this year exploring the education-to-workforce pipeline. Higher education has long been seen as the start of that pipeline, with graduates transitioning from classrooms to careers. My interest in this topic dates back to my time working for Governor Phil Bryant in Mississippi, where I assisted Laurie Smith in studying how the state’s community colleges and training programs prepared graduates for the workforce. The results were underwhelming—a topic for another day. For now, a more pressing issue is the role of the H-1B visa in this pipeline.
In this week’s top article, Rob Jenkins connects higher education to the H-1B visa program, framing the debate over whether to support the program as a proxy for assessing the quality of U.S. education. He poses a critical question: Are colleges and universities producing enough top-tier talent to meet economic demands—and if not, why?
Jenkins argues that American higher education bears responsibility for leaving graduates behind their international peers. He cites a June 2024 Gallup poll showing that only a third of Americans have confidence in U.S. universities to prepare students for the workforce. This crisis of confidence, Jenkins contends, stems from a combination of social promotion in K-12 schools, the dilution of college curricula, and the prioritization of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) over academic rigor—all of which, he believes, contribute to the nation’s reliance on foreign labor.
[RELATED: No Borders: Higher Education Enables Illegal Immigration]
While Jenkins critiques higher education sharply—and has confirmed he’s open to a little debate—I find myself disagreeing with the premise of his argument regarding the relationship between higher education and the H-1B visa program.
In my view, we should reject the assumption that foreign nationals are inherently more talented, more qualified, or better educated than their American counterparts. We should also challenge the notion that American workers are undereducated for the jobs being filled by H-1B visa holders—mostly tech jobs—or that employers are merely making a rational business decision. Most importantly, I think we need to focus on a more targeted critique of higher education’s role in perpetuating this dynamic within the H-1B conversation.
For starters, an American bachelor’s degree—or its foreign equivalent—is required for H-1B sponsorship. Many international students pursue U.S. degrees, believing this is the best pathway to obtaining H-1B visas. Consider this question posed on the site Quora:
Are chances good if I get a bachelors Computer Science degree in the US as an international student that I can get a company to sponsor a H1B visa in 3 years after graduation or I should resort to Canadian colleges?
But if foreign students attend the same “dumbed-down” or “DEI-driven” programs as their native-born American counterparts, it seems odd to say that the dumbing down of America’s higher ed curriculum is influencing employers to select foreign nationals to fill American jobs. How would a foreign student’s credentials seem more appealing to employers?
The answer lies in profits. And this is where, I think, many proponents of the H-1B program wrongfully assume that America’s employers are just simply selecting the best talent.
Employers’ decisions are not about merit but about exploiting the H-1B program to cut costs, effectively undercutting American workers. They are less concerned with perceived shortcomings—like a supposed lack of well-roundedness among native-born workers—and more focused on the higher price tag associated with hiring Americans. This unfairly diminishes the value of American graduates, particularly in STEM fields, who are often highly qualified, meet all the necessary criteria, and possess the skills to excel. The real issue isn’t their capability—it’s that American workers rightfully expect fair compensation for their contributions.
Meanwhile, universities show little concern for what I call the “education-to-exploit pipeline.” This exploitation cuts both ways: qualified foreign workers are paid less than their American counterparts to perform the same jobs, and native-born American citizens face fewer employment opportunities as companies fill positions with cheaper labor.
Universities actively grow the pool of qualified foreign nationals for U.S. jobs. In fact, they openly promote the H-1B visa as a selling point for earning an American degree, highlighting special benefits and pathways to the visa for foreign nationals earning master’s or PhDs. By doing so, higher education institutions actively participate in undermining the American public—the taxpayers who fund them.
This, I believe, is a sharper critique of higher education’s relationship with the H-1B visa program. America’s colleges and universities leverage foreign nationals to fill classrooms at premium rates (see Neetu Arnold’s “The Takeover”), effectively credentialing them to qualify for H-1B sponsorships. In doing so, these institutions abandon what I believe should be their primary mission: serving American students and, by extension, the American workforce. Bringing in waves of foreign students—regardless of their country of origin—displaces domestic students.
We should work to reform everything Jenkins noted, but we must also add to his list a call for institutions of higher education to stop relying on foreign nationals to fill classrooms and subsequently credentialing thousands of them to take American jobs. These institutions should lower tuition costs and bring more native-born Americans through their doors.
[RELATED: How Chinese Students Are Changing Our Colleges]
I appreciate Jenkins for sparking this important debate, and I hope it encourages more contributions on the topic. He’s absolutely right to highlight the failures of American education and the erosion of academic rigor. But we need to frame the issue in a way that critiques all stakeholders, starting with a real assessment of what drives employers’ decisions. It’s not about hiring the best person for the job; it’s about finding someone who is qualified and willing to work for significantly less. Foreign nationals support that business model.
We also need to confront higher education’s role in perpetuating this education-to-exploit pipeline. By awarding degrees that qualify foreign nationals for H-1B status, universities fuel a system that prioritizes global economic interests over the well-being of the American public. These institutions actively prepare foreign students to compete directly against domestic workers, undermining their own citizens in the process.
If we want a nation that prioritizes its own citizens, we must address higher education’s overreliance on foreign students and the financial incentives that sustain it. Universities, already seen as degree mills churning out workforce credentials, should refocus on preparing American students for American jobs. Anything less is a disservice to the country.
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What do the illegal aliens invading the southern border and the H1-B visa program have in common? Lowering costs. That’s the reason—-the only reason—-the high tech industry loves the H1-B visa program.
I suggest you go to indeed-dot-com and look at some of the job postings for entry-level engineering positions. You will find a number of them list sponsorship is a possibility. Well, they aren’t sponsoring American workers; they’re blatantly seeking H1-B visa applicants. So, American universities no longer turn out engineers?
Over the years I have taught many Indian graduate students. I have yet to have one of them wind up at the top of the class. Same with Chinese students. But I thought only the best and the brightest come from there. Apparently not.
From my extensive experience, the foreign students don’t all walk on water. There is a range, as with any group. Some of them do rise to the top. But a lot of them, despite technical skill, have something missing. Probably a result of cultural background.
I don’t think the foreign STEM students should be feared. They should be welcomed. Bring the best to America, as we have so often done!
The H1-B, as I suggest elsewhere on this page, can be fixed. It’s the fault of the corporations and Congress — not of the foreigners. End the indentured internships! You will see the market value revealing itself very quickly. There will be plenty of room for genius scientists and engineers, both native and foreigners. And plenty for typical decent practitioners, the vast majority.
Tucker Carlson’s take on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-iOOLlEB2g
There is the very real question of if this is only about cheap labor.
What a cramped, negative article and destructive attitudes seemingly grown in Mississippi politics. Just looking at all the opportunities for American students in companies started by foreigners, it is mind boggling. This is awful, poisoned. What ever happened to the vision of JFK, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton.
Ummmm — WHAT “American companies started by foreigners?” Ann Coulter puts it best: https://anncoulter.com/2024/12/31/new-years-resolutions-for-indian-immigrants/
I don’t know what dimension of reality you inhabit, but in the real world, foreigners don’t hire Americans — they hire people from their own country, usually those who are able to carry on conversations in their native tongue.
And it’s even worse — STEM is biased against American boys because no one is expecting them to succeed, no one is encouraging them. Girls are encouraged, foreign students are encouraged, but American males are expected to fail, and thus they do.
And as to Ronald Reagan, he admitted that agreeing to the 1986 Amnesty was the “biggest mistake he made” as President. He trusted the Dems when they promised “no mas” — that if he legalized all the illegal aliens in the US as of that date, the Dems would agree to not let any more ILLEGAL aliens in. And look at where we are now: https://www.facebook.com/ReverePoliceDept/posts/916453547335109?ref=embed_post
Ummmm — I’ve made a modest fortune investing over the years in Nvidia stock. Look it up, it was started by a multinational team. The chief person is Jensen Huang, born in Taiwan.
Another guy is none other than Elon Musk. Despite his eccentricities, I think he must be employing some Americans among his 120,000 employees. (I have never been enthusastic about Tesla, but plenty of others see it differently.)
I don’t see what problems about female students, real or imagined, have to do with immigration policy.
I do think that there are problems with H1B, and that it should be reformed. The main that I see is the American policy to put H1B workers into the “indentured servant.” That is not the fault of the foreign workers, but of American corporations. Yes, the sacred capitalists. Make the foreign workers be free agents. Not captors in a particular workplace. Then the employers, foreign and domestic, will reach the market level. The way a free market should work — not the damned thing devised by American Congress and American corporations.
What I was referring to with JFK, Reagan, and Clinton was the search for the best people in the world to come here, work, and contribute to the country. It actually goes back a long time before them. Look at FDR. See the movie or read about “Manhattan.” Look at all the people recruited to American science in World War 2. Including, and also to some extent instigating, Einstein. The list actually goes back before the War. Now that was really making America great!
Now I look at my work environment. I see mostly Americans, but also Canadian, Indian, Chinese, British. I don’t see “degree mills churning out workforce credentials.” That is an insult to everyone. And a terrible mistake.
Taiwan and South Africa. Not India and China.
Just sayin….
Most H-1B visa holders are Indian, a trend directly tied to the surge of Indian students in American classrooms, now surpassing Chinese students as the largest group of international enrollees.
Just briefly — Let foreign students from anywhere who want to apply and attend to U.S. universities. Let the best STEM workers apply to work (freely, not as indentured) in the United States. I hope the best people will work here. Apart from their talents — better they should contribute their talents here, rather than in China, India, etc.
Proponents of the H-1B visa often claim that foreign workers entering through the program are inherently more qualified than their American counterparts. However, this assumption does not hold up under scrutiny. A significant portion of the qualifications these workers bring is acquired through U.S. education. In STEM fields specifically, American college-level education far surpasses the curriculum and standards of many countries where the majority of H-1B recipients originate. India accounts for the largest share of visa holders.
Globally, Singapore, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia supposedly lead in STEM education. Among these, South Korea and Japan are U.S. allies, while Russian and Chinese nationals pose a greater security concern. The number of Russians holding H-1B visas in the U.S., however, is relatively small—only a few thousand. (Even this raises questions about the wisdom of the H-1B program of allowing workers from nations with significant espionage risks).
For India, which lacks the STEM infrastructure, competitiveness in the U.S. job market depends heavily on the opportunities provided by American universities. Indian students now outnumber other foreign national demographics in U.S. universities—a trend that likely fuels diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) metrics prized by these institutions. Without this pipeline, India could not match the quality of American STEM graduates.
To compete with nations boasting strong STEM education systems, such as China, the solution is not to rely on importing talent but to invest in American students. This begins with improving STEM education at the K-12 level, fostering a homegrown workforce capable of excelling in high-demand fields. Such an approach would ensure that jobs go to qualified Americans rather than displacing them in favor of foreign workers.
If the H-1B program is not merely a cost-cutting measure that undercuts American labor but is genuinely intended as a national security solution, it remains deeply flawed. In the long run, it undermines the U.S. workforce by prioritizing foreign hires, weakening native employment opportunities, and contributing to a multicultural ethos that many conservatives reject—except, apparently, when it comes to the H-1B visa.
I will stay with my last statement.
Very few American people who actually work in STEM education and/or research or industry would agree with your statement:
“Globally, Singapore, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia supposedly lead in STEM education.”
Is that you Sadeep?