Ruiyan Wang

The Biden Administration announced a series of new regulations designed to attract global talent in the STEM fields to the United States in a move that will have wide-ranging benefits for the country and could affect the University, according to University officials and experts in the foreign policy. 

The policy changes described in the announcement include adding 22 STEM-related fields of study to the federal Optional Training Program, which is available to international students on an F-1 visa and allows them to remain in the United States for three years after graduation. The changes also provide greater clarity on the criteria necessary for satisfying the requirements for an O-1 “extraordinary ability” visa. The change in rules will make it easier for Yale students in the STEM fields to remain in the country following graduation. Former governor of Vermont and senior fellow at the Jackson School of International Affairs Howard Dean explained that these changes will have a significant economic impact and help the U.S. maintain its global leadership in science and technology. 

“The Departments of State and Homeland Security are announcing new actions to advance predictability and clarity for pathways for international STEM scholars, students, researchers and experts to contribute to innovation and job creation efforts across America,” the Biden administration’s announcement reads. “These actions will allow international STEM talent to continue to make meaningful contributions to America’s scholarly, research and development, and innovation communities.” 

Ann Kuhlman, executive director for the Yale Office of International Students and Scholars, described the policy shift as a “very positive message” from the Biden Administration. Kuhlman noted, however, that the policy change is unlikely to have widespread impact on the international community at Yale, given that many of the 22 new fields are not offered at the University.

“I think it’s both a recognition of past and future contributions that international scholars can make to the United States,” Kuhlman said. “So I think the message was hugely important.”

The first of the changes is to expand the eligibility criteria for OPT. The program allows all international students on an F-1 visa to remain in the United States for 12 months in a job related to their fields of study, while students in STEM fields are granted an additional 24 months.

Kuhlman noted an additional nuanced change to the policy, which clears up the process for applying for STEM designation. 

According to the OISS 2021 report, there were 840 Yale students on the OPT program last year. There were over 3,000 international students and 2,000 international scholars at Yale last year.

Kuhlman noted that this is a particularly positive change given the Trump administration’s more hostile approach to international students. 

In an email to the News, Vice President for Global Strategy Pericles Lewis concurred with Kuhlman, writing that “the [Biden] administration’s expansion of visa options for international students and scholars is a positive move.”

He conceded that the policy change will not have widespread effects for Yale’s international student and scholar communities but that the changes “signal of greater openness which should help the US continue to attract top international students.” 

Kuhlman agreed, saying that the details of the rule are “significant” but “not huge game changers” for Yale. She also noted that this change squares nicely with Yale’s policy towards the STEM fields. 

In a conversation with the News, Dean explained that this decision will primarily have an economic impact.  

“These [STEM fields] are the most important parts of the workforce that we have, in terms of keeping our technology ahead of everybody else’s,” Dean said. 

This decision allows the U.S. to hold on to many highly skilled workers who can help develop those crucial industries, he argued. 

This sentiment was echoed in the Biden Administration’s press release. 

“The Biden-Harris Administration believes that one of America’s greatest strengths is our ability to attract global talent to strengthen our economy and technological competitiveness, and benefit working people and communities all across the country,” the release said. 

It added that America has a long history as a leader in the fields of science and technology and in attracting global talent to further that goal.

Dean further described the important role education plays in American foreign policy. 

“It’s absolutely critical that we continue to have large numbers of foreign students,” Dean said. “Every person that we educate, whether they stay here or not, is somebody who understands the United States… and they are less likely to be convinced by propaganda in some of these countries that are authoritarian, and they represent, I think, a strategic asset to the United States.”

This new policy serves as an additional “dividend,” making it easier for foreign students to stay in the country, while also bolstering America’s technology industries, he continued.

For Dean, slight policy decisions like this are part of the deployment of “soft power,” a term in international relations to describe the ability to exercise global power and influence without using military force or the threat thereof. 

“Never underestimate soft power, right, which is cultural,” Dean said. “And cultural power often comes from familiarity from people who have lived in other places, but who have spent extensive time in the United States and understand what America is about in a much more sophisticated way than even some of the foreign diplomats might.”

The Office of International Students and Scholars is located at 421 Temple St.