Brookings Institution. April 9, 2013.
U.S. policymakers have put forth various immigration reform proposals to improve retention of foreign students obtaining advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from American universities. These students are considered particularly desirable because they, like their American counterparts, offer the types of skills critical to building a vibrant “knowledge” economy—whether in the United States or elsewhere. Around the world, many nations have adjusted their immigration policies in recent years to better attract highly-educated foreigners. Yet, some fear that an accelerated inflow of newly minted foreign workers may depress wages and crowd out opportunities for Americans. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/multimedia/interactives/2013/immigration_slides/metro_immigration_facts_foreign_students.pdf [PDF format, 7 pages].
Economic Policy Institute. April 10, 2013.
Though there has been some improvement over the last year, job prospects for young graduates remain dim. Thus, the Class of 2013 will be the fifth consecutive graduating class to enter the labor market during a period of profound weakness. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.epi.org/files/2013/Class-of-2013-graduates-job-prospects.pdf [PDF format, 31 pages].
Brookings Institution. March 7, 2013.
Affirmative action is back in the news this year with a major Supreme Court case, Fisher v. Texas. The question before the Court is whether the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause permits the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race in its undergraduate admissions process. The Court may declare the use of racial preferences in university admissions unconstitutional when it decides the case in the coming months, potentially overturning its decision in the landmark Grutter case decided a decade ago. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2013/03/07-supreme-court-chingos [HTML format].
Brookings Institution. January 2013.
According to the authors, Congress should establish an initiative to designate 20 institutions of higher education as “U.S. Manufacturing Universities” as part of a needed push to strengthen the position of the United States in the increasingly innovation-driven global economy. In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Act, which established land-grant colleges to promote learning in “agriculture and the mechanic arts.” These colleges played a key role in enabling the United States to later take the lead in the mechanization of agriculture and the industrialization of the economy. Today, the challenge is even greater as America competes against a wide array of nations seeking to win the race for global innovation advantage, especially in advanced manufacturing. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2013/1/14%20federalism%20series%20manufacturing%20universities/14%20federalism%20series%20manufacturing%20universities.pdf [PDF format, 6 pages].
Migration Policy Institute. December 2012.
According to the US Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey (ACS), immigrants accounted for 16 percent of the 58.8 million college-educated persons. However, their numbers were much higher among workers in certain occupations: Immigrants represent nearly 28 percent of physicians, more than 31 percent of computer programmers, and over 47 percent of medical scientists. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?id=927 [HTML format].
