Read Council Member Susan Hockfield’s Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal

Council on Competitiveness Executive Committee Member Susan Hockfield, President of MIT, authored an Op-Ed in Monday's Wall Street Journal focused on immigration and U.S. competitiveness. Hockfield argues that current U.S. policies hinder America's ability to innovate by restricting graduate and postgraduate student immigrants from staying in the U.S. and becoming entrepreneurs after completing higher education.  

"We must rapidly reform U.S. immigration policies that drive away talented young scholars who would otherwise decide to live, work and innovate here,” Hockfield writes. Current immigration policies call for foreign graduates to return home after receiving their degrees and reapply for a visa to work in the U.S. As Hockfield points out, "It would be hard to invent a policy more counterproductive to our national interest." Read More

 

The MIT President also makes a case for stronger emphasis on America's education system to ensure the U.S. in a global leadership position in the 21st century. Recent studies show stagnant growth in American high school and college completion rates while graduation rates in European and Asian countries are experiencing rapid growth.

Find out what America must do to train a world-class workforce and keep the U.S. competitive in the global marketplace by reading the Council's 2008 report Thrive: The Skills Imperative.