Over the last few years, the United States has practiced an open-door policy towards foreign visitors and workers seen as beneficial to the American economy, including students, tourists and business people.
But news that some of men involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack received training at U.S. flight schools and that at least one of them was in the country on a student visa raises questions about whether foreign students should be allowed easy access to American higher education.
Technically, no legislative changes have yet been made to the regulations governing the comings and goings of foreign students, according to Paula Grenier, the public affairs officer for Immigration and Naturalization Services' Boston office.
"We're still doing business," she said, explaining that foreigners holding visas are still being admitted into the United States, and the application procedures are still functioning.
That is not to say, however, that things are proceeding as normal.
"It's not a secret that we're operating at a heightened state of alert," Grenier said, although she was unable to give specifics as to what extra precautions INS might be taking.
Grenier was also unwilling to speculate about what, if any, permanent changes would be made to U.S. immigration policy as a result of the terrorist attacks.
She did note that many are concerned there will be congressional legislative changes that could mean fewer visas issued and more government monitoring of foreigners who come to the United States to work, study or visit.
Last year, 4.2 million people were granted visas for tourism or business. Another 284,000 non-citizens received visas to study at American universities.
Officials at universities across the country have echoed Grenier, saying that new national security concerns and heightened anti-foreign sentiment could undermine openness to international students.
"We're all a little edgy right now," said Ken Reade, an adviser to international students and scholars at Dartmouth. He said that there has been a "flurry" of emails between administrators and related organizations associated with international students, exchanging hearsay on what politicians are saying on the issue.
"Students could really take a hit for this," Reade conjectured, noting how many of the terrorists appear to have had some sort of student status.
According to a recent New York Times article, some hijacking suspects held "M level" visas, allowing them to enroll in technical courses. Although this category accounted for only 6,107 of the millions of visas the government issued last year, some are now calling to eliminate them.
At least one of the hijackers, Hani Hanjour, apparently obtained a student visa to study English at a Berlitz school in California, according to The New York Times.
Yet despite growing concern among politicians and administrators at other schools, Dartmouth has no intention of altering its admissions process for international students.
"We have no reason to alter our already high standards and policies that bring in this rich and diverse part of the Dartmouth community," explained Steve Silver, director of the international office.
For admission to the College, international students submit essentially the same application as applicants from the United States: they write the same essays, obtain the same letters of recommendation, Dean of Admissions Maria Laskaris explained.
If appropriate, international students must also provide a TOEFL -- Test of English as a Foreign Language -- score, in addition to the normal standardized test scores.
One difference in the admissions process for international students at Dartmouth is that it is not need-blind. Thus, an international applicant must fill out an additional financial aid form so the College can assess his or her resources, as there are only limited College funds for international students.
Limited resources also make the admissions process very competitive for students applying from abroad, according to Laskaris.
"We read things very carefully," she said.
Still, Laskaris emphasized that the College essentially gathered the same information for international students as it did for American ones.
"And we don't anticipate any changes to how we review that information," she added.
Acceptance by the College, however, is only the first step international students must take to study in this country. Once admitted, the student must fill out an I-20 form, which is issued by his university, in order to apply in his home country for an F-1, or student, visa.
The form asks for basic demographic information such as the student's name, citizenship, and date of birth. It also requires information about the sponsoring school, what field of study and level of education the student plans to pursue, and the start and end dates of the academic program. Again, questions regarding how the study will be paid for are included.
The prospective student then takes the completed form with any other supplementary materials to the American consulate or embassy in his or her country, where he is interviewed independently by the consular.
According to Grenier, screening procedures at this stage vary from country to country, although she could not specify what security measures are actually taken. A spokesperson for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs could not be reached for comment.
Reade said students are commonly denied visas by the consulate for failing to prove "non-immigrant intent," that is they fail to convince their interviewer that they have no intent of settling in the United States after they finish their studies.
Those foreign students who are granted visas must present themselves to an immigration official once they arrive in the United States. At that time, the INS runs their names through an automated lookout system, Grenier said.
Despite the College's resolve not to let the recent atrocity affect Dartmouth's international student policy, if legislative changes are made on the national level, Dartmouth and other American universities will have little choice in the matter.
The Bush administration, for example, has already suggested proposals to broaden government powers to detain and deport non-citizens on their political associations or activities.
Already in the works is a computer system for tracking the 515,000 foreign students studying at American institutions, which will give law enforcement officials electronic access to information about student's names, universities, dates of attendance and academic majors. Congress ordered INS to implement the system following the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. The system is expected to be in place by 2003.
The Association of International Educators, which initially fought the tracking system, announced an end to its opposition following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Regarding the possibility of stricter immigration policies, Silver said he expected and hoped that the rights of individual international students leaving and entering this country would be respected.
"Certainly our nation is at a very tense and frightening time in our history," he said. "But we also hope that we don't succumb to profiling individuals based upon race, ethnicity, or country of origin."
"Our international students and scholars are an important and valuable part of the Dartmouth community," he continued. "That diversity allows us to understand each other better" and now more than ever, we need a strong understanding of the rest of the world, he said.
To protect this international community, the College has scheduled a series of programming events, through a variety of campus organizations, available to all members of the Dartmouth community. Interested students should monitor BlitzMail bulletins for more information.
