Think investigates impact of PP10043 in US education system

Global agency Think share research on the effect the Proclamation 10043 introduced in 2020 on the education system in the United States. The key findings are:

• PP10043 discriminates against young Chinese students.
• It's against U.S. education institution's values. Organizations and experts are in favor of national security but also in freedom of education.
• More than 20 interviews with education experts and university heads were conducted. All emphasized the value of Chinese students in very important areas for the U.S. and are concerned about the loss of talent in the future.
• Freedom of education is a universal right of all young people and is necessary for the solution of future problems in country and world.

MADRID, Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In June Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, acting on behalf of more than 40 higher education organizations, requested a briefing from the State Department to better understand the implications of Proclamation 10043 for international students and scholars. An update has yet to be provided.

According to Ted Mitchell's own statement: "We are asking to be able to work with federal officials to address concerns that may exist between U.S. national security and students of any nationality, and currently those of Chinese origin."

"We cannot accept the generalization and casting of suspicions and accusations towards a minority as large and important as Chinese students, it violates the rights enshrined in our constitution. We are proud to be Americans and what we stand for, so we want to do our job and ensure national security while helping our country's economy grow, but we can only do that if we make sure we have the brightest students."

Ted Mitchell concludes: "We are sending a very negative message to the world that America no longer welcomes the world's talented students and scholars."

PP10043 is a presidential proclamation signed by the former Trump administration, at the height of the polarization suffered in the United States and a trade war with China, where students of Chinese origin could not continue attending their studies in some of the most prestigious Ivy League universities. This worsened when many of them could not return home due to the COVID pandemic, which left them totally defenseless, with no options to travel, nor to work and above all to study.

This measure created a great rejection and insecurity at the international level. In the face of this uncomfortable climate, candidates started looking for other alternatives in prestigious European universities or in new ones such as in Qatar or China. According to the Times Higher Education World Reputation Ranking 2021, seven of the hundred most prestigious universities worldwide are in China.    

According to Chad Losse, Director of Admissions at Harvard: "Some of the students who pass through the classrooms of these universities have a good chance of excelling professionally. But being chosen as a Harvard student is not easy; the admissions rate is very low. We always look for the best academic records, so that they develop other characteristics that are considered fundamental for the next world leaders: Leadership, Service, Commitment, Solution-Orientation, Passion, Vision and Integrity, it makes no sense to exclude a brilliant mind, just because of its origin."

NYU Admissions Department emphasize that in the 2017/2018 academic year there were about 360,000 Chinese students in U.S. universities, representing 33% of the foreign students. During the pandemic the number of Chinese students dropped to about 90,000 students.

The U.S. has historically benefited from welcoming international students with the brightest minds in the world, many of them Chinese, and providing them with the necessary means to make great advances in research, technology, engineering, etc. Trump's presidential proclamation law PP10043 has created a loss of talented minds in the U.S. And a loss in its economy, particularly from those Chinese students for the high fees and donations paid by parents.

The class action lawsuit filed by Chinese international students in the summer of 2022 who are affected by PP10043 is being funded with small contributions through crowdfunding and are still waiting for a resolution to their claims and for the media to echo this.  These young students state: "We are not spies, we are students who have worked very hard and we feel discriminated against because of our nationality. Our life and studies have been completely derailed."

Christoph Guttentag, Director of Administration from Duke University's opinion is that: "The proclamation of law 10043 has no academic justification. It was a very important asset for the best Chinese students to study and train in U.S. universities, so that we can establish international ties. This law came at a time of great division in our country and where the relationship with other countries became polarized."

In recent decades, international students have played a critical role in the research that underpins the America's growth and fuels its innovation. Their estimated economic impact is $36.9 billion and they generate 450,000 jobs. The year 2016 saw the highest number of Chinese students studying in the U.S., bringing $12.25 billion in wealth to the country.

"It's legitimate to worry about the vulnerabilities of universities," says Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, and a former U.S. diplomat in Beijing. But, he adds, it should be measured against the "enormous benefit we have derived from the contribution of the brain drain of Chinese students and academics over the past 40 years in the United States." In other words, this veteran politician admits that science and technology brains from China play a big role in U.S. research capacity. If it were not for Chinese academics and students living in the country, U.S. patents would have been compromised.

As Francisco Marmolejo, President of Higher Education at Qatar Foundation (QF) tells us, "Today, universities around the world are on the hunt for the brightest students. From 1995 to 2012, as Executive Director of the Consortium for North American High Education, I saw that parents of international students were increasingly choosing to have their children study in the U.S. as a matter of 'social prestige'."

Mike Devlin, Director of Admissions at the prestigious Stanford University, shares his vision: "Right now we are teaching knowledge that we have no idea if it will be useful or not in a short period of time. Our young people will work in jobs that right now are not even invented, isn't it better to have the largest number of talents studying in U.S. universities and that a large part of them then develop their new companies in our territory, right now we are investing in tomorrow?"

About Think
Think is a global agency specializing in developing documentary, research and entertainment content. The company boasts a team of experts from different fields such as production, creativity, and journalism, some have over 25 years of experience in major production companies in Spain. Think also recruits the most talented young professionals. Curious by nature, we are concerned about what is happening in the world around us, so we like to tell and share what is happening in the world. 

SOURCE Think