Universities Brand ‘Drama Therapy’ And ‘Journalism’ as STEM Majors to Circumvent Immigration Policy
Several American universities are expanding the scope of their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in an attempt to circumvent U.S. immigration law, which allows international students who major in STEM subjects to stay in the country two years longer than counterparts who major in the humanities. New York University, for example, now includes journalism, classics, and drama therapy under its STEM umbrella.
NYU is one of a number of universities exploiting a U.S. immigration policy that requires most international students to leave the country a year after finishing their studies—but permits those who studied STEM disciplines to work for an additional two years. The policy is part of the Department of Homeland Security's Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which aims to shore up the United States' supply of engineers and tech workers.
The result has been a dramatic increase in the number of foreign students seeking the STEM exemption—it ballooned to nearly 70,000 in 2018 from just over 2,000 in 2008 as the University of California, Berkeley, Boston University, California State University, and others have classified journalism, media studies, and digital media arts as STEM programs.
CSU said that it followed DHS guidelines when it made its decision to label certain programs as STEM. None of the other schools responded to requests for comment.
https://freebeacon.com/campus/universities-brand-drama-therapy-and-journalism-as-stem-majors-to-circumvent-immigration-policy/