February 2013

On January 28, a new bipartisan Senate group released a draft framework that could lead to legislation supportive of M.A. and Ph.D.  STEM graduates of U.S. institutions who continue to work in the United States after graduation. As set forth in that document, “The United States must do a better job of attracting and keeping the world’s best and brightest. As such, our immigration proposal will award a green card to immigrants who have received a PhD or Master’s degree in science, technology, engineering, or math [STEM] from an American university. It makes no sense to educate the world’s future innovators and entrepreneurs only to ultimately force them to leave our country at the moment they are most able to contribute to our economy.” Whether such a provision will be part of any new immigration reform act remains uncertain. It will be important that any such provision reaches to all fields that are part of STEM, including education research and other social and behavioral sciences.