pralay said:
The number of intenationl students in US schools has come down drastically not because it is "relatively easy to get F1 visa" nowadays, but it's difficult to get F1 nowadays. Background check, security check, delay in interviews cause delay significantly. Students still want to come USA for study but all these delays make them looking somewhere else.
The number of international students in US schools has decreased over the years not because it is difficult to get F1 now a days for the reasons you stated, but due to the fact that it has become extremely difficult for the international students to obtain H1B sponsorship or full-time employment from American companies even with a U.S. master's degree.
Unlike a few years ago, where American companies were hiring international students on-campus in the universities itself, a student even with a U.S. master's degree have to join Indian Consulting Companies invariably, like the people coming from India to U.S. on H1B with a bachelor's degree from an Indian university. The most funny part is that these consultants (formerly, the so-called international students) don't even put their U.S. master degree on their resume while applying for small projects with American companies.
So, why should students come to U.S. for higher studies when the U.S. degrees do not help them obtain a H1B sponsorship from an American company nor they would help them get a job as a consultant? Now the students in India and other countries knew that it is better to enter U.S. on an H1B as a consultant rather than as a student in pursuit of higher U.S. degrees. They knew that a higher U.S. degree is a mere waste of time, money, and effort.
International students would not mind going through additional background and security checks, interview delays if an American degree would increase their chances of H1B sponsorship or full-time employment from American companies and help them avoid working as a consultant for Indian companies.
For the above reason, there has been substantial decrease in the number of students appearing for TOEFL, GRE and GMAT. I have come to U.S. on F1 visa prior to 9/11 and there were many universities that were giving scholarships (full or partial) to international students. Now, I hardly see a university giving scholarship to international students, and major reasons for this being the decrease in the amount of funding from American companies and the decrease in the number of international students. Also, I have seen students coming to U.S. recently with relatively less TOEFL, GRE and GMAT scores than before.
I believe that getting an F1 visa is relatively easy than before for the stated reasons.
