America is known as the land of opportunity, which gives the chance to succeed to anyone with enough luck to make it past the shoreline. Worldwide, families have starry-eyed dreams of big skyscrapers and expensive designer bags; they imprint the rags-to-riches stories of poor and starving children who climbed to rule the world through hard work onto their heart. In America, they are told, it doesn’t matter where you come from or who your parents are– you can get far in life. Naturally, wishing the best life for their children, they push them to exhaustion in their studies, saving up for their college tuition and creating an elaborate plan to craft the life they never had for their kids. Their kids struggle but work diligently, topping the school, and the entire family anticipates their dream coming to reality.
As nice as the dream is, reality doesn’t catch up to the illusion.
Even while America is built on the foundation of immigrants and foreigners, international students find obstacles at every path. Many of these students face the regular problems of securing funds for their education and dealing with coursework, but are additionally burdened by consistent visa issues and stress, culture shock, and xenophobia. With all these issues, it’s obvious that immigrant students need constant support and guidance in their lives, which they absolutely receive from the education system.
Not exactly.
The nation’s law states that colleges cannot discriminate or accept students based on race, but there are nuances in the system that universities can play by to bypass the rules. According to Sharad Goel, a professor of public policy at Harvard, and Josh Grossman, a PhD student in computational social science, 12% of white students are on legacy scholarships while only 3.5% of Asian students are. This gives an incredible advantage to a certain group, considering that legacies are accepted at higher rates than regular admissions. Influence in colleges can also become a competition for prestige and honor, or a battle that depends on who your parents are and what connections you possess. An immigrant who only entered the country a few months ago may struggle with developing and maintaining these connections, particularly if a language or cultural barrier is added.
Keeping in mind the obstacles that they face, it’s crucial that colleges learn to aid international students rather than block them. If supported and given the chance to learn, international students can prove to be incredibly successful and provide new perspectives to work. By clearly stating and aiding them in the admissions process, as well as educating them on the American education and cultural system– which may be vastly different from their home countries– colleges would already be doing a large service to international students. Universities’ job is to educate and benefit their students, and to prepare them for the challenges they’ll face in life. In helping overcome the knowledge gap and cultural barriers immigrants typically face, colleges can guide students to new and impactful opportunities, allowing them to flourish.
Some may argue that immigrants don’t need aid to rise to high positions. Mary Hanna and Jeanne Batalova, researchers of US Immigration policy, claim that “more than half (53 percent) of Asian immigrants were employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations”. Since international students are able to overcome the issues of migration, why should colleges make it easier for them?
17.4% of the American workforce consists of immigrants, and this number is predicted to rise in future years. Having a diversified and intellectual workforce that can innovate new solutions can improve the world for everyone. Being skeptical about “foreigners” and endorsing this “us vs. them” mindset seems childish when it could better everyone’s situation. Access to education isn’t a limited resource that needs to be reserved for “our” students, but an open door that can change people’s lives and, in retrospect, allow them to change ours. Colleges should be focusing on initiatives to help immigrant students and reinforcing the image that America is the land of opportunity and success. Aid can come in simple steps– answering questions about the scope of careers here, showing patience when the student asks you to repeat yourself, providing support systems to ease the cultural transition.