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Why the US is losing foreign graduates

Text: Moira Herbst, BusinessWeek.com

March 20, 2009

Foreign students who graduate from U.S. universities with degrees in science and engineering are increasingly leaving the U.S. to pursue job opportunities in their home countries, according to a report released on Mar. 19.

The report, called "Losing the World's Best and Brightest," warns that "the departure of these foreign nationals could represent a significant loss for the U.S. science and engineering workforce, where these immigrants have played increasingly larger roles over the past three decades."

Duke University Professor Vivek Wadhwa, one of the report's authors, says the U.S. should be trying to keep foreign graduates in the U.S. so they can create companies.

Image: An American flag flutters in the wind as a bird flies past. | Photograph: Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters