The Race to Attract International Students

By Abdul Kargbo & Margery Yeager

In 1971, a 21-year-old Taiwanese electrical engineer came to the University of Tennessee to further his education. He earned masters and doctorate degrees and decided to stay in the United States. He also got married and started a family—and became a billionaire. Now Min H. Kao, the CEO and chairman of Garmin Ltd., a leading maker of global-positioning systems, ranks 369th on the 2007 Forbes list of the world's richest people. He recently donated $17.5 million to his alma mater in gratitude for the opportunities it provided him.

The U.S. has long been a magnet for the world's top college students, and many of them, like Kao, stay in the U.S. after graduation and contribute to the country's economic competitiveness. By one recent estimate, they help pump more than $13 billion annually into the U.S. economy and many become lifelong economic contributors by remaining in the U.S. through employment or marriage. ¹ For 50 years, the U.S. benefited as the number of these valuable international college students rose continuously.

In WENR