VISA PROBLEMS CONTINUE FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS

"VISA PROBLEMS CONTINUE FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS attempting to enter physics departments at US universities. A new survey conducted by AIP's Statistical Research Center shows that in 2004 half the PhD-granting physics departments reported that at least one admitted student was either denied a visa or considerably delayed by visa problems. About 60% of the departments also reported visa problems for foreign students returning to the US after trips abroad. The AIP survey estimates that ultimately 12% of admitted foreign physics graduate students in the Fall of 2004 were (at least initially) denied entry. This actually represents an improvement; in 2002 the same fraction was 20%. The falloff in foreign graduate physics enrollment is matched by a substantial increase in US students admitted: a growth of 42% in four years. (Report text at http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/intltrends.html; contact
Patrick Mulvey or Michael Neuschatz at stats@aip.org )"
AIP