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Comment by magic_haze | Hacker News Reader

I think this is just a continuation of the old "College is a waste of time" thought, but I have noticed a _lot_ of people -- especially from China and India -- enrolling in CS PhD programs the last few years. I talked to a few of them from my college, and an exceedingly common theme seems to be family and peer pressure, so personally, I'd really like to understand more about this topic.

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An important, but rarely overtly stated reason for foreigners to attend grad school in the United States is immigration. A graduate degree (esp in STEM disciplines) is a relatively secure way of getting a student visa, getting a job while on OPT, getting an H1B and finally a Green Card. Of course it does not mean that immigration is the sole reason for asians to attend US grad school in hordes, but it is an important one.

Funnily enough, when you apply for your student visa, you're required to assert that you will return to your country after your education in the US is over :-)

I don't understand the motivation there at all - shouldn't the US be trying to hold on to the most educated foreigners as much as possible?

You made the mistake of assuming that the US immigration policy is rational.

One country that does it right is Canada--they try very hard to keep top talent in the country instead of going to their previous homes.

I used to ask that question and have been told that the US greatly benefits from having US-educated people in positions of power around the world. I don't know if this is true, but what is true that a surprising number of heads of states of countries that are considered political allies of the US have degrees from US universities. I first noticed this trend when reading about Pacific island nations.

I suppose, but the number of people leaving the country that that requires is fairly small, unless you're talking about spreading a cultural hegemony. I think it's likely just irrational.

If we follow this logic for the subset of foreigners attending grad school in the US, why wouldn't they opt for a Masters degree instead of a PhD?

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