Society News
US visa curbs push foreign talent away: MBA applications drop as Asian scientists look to Korea
Two reports published on October 30 point the same way: tighter US visa policies are pushing international students and researchers to look elsewhere.
Hindustan Times reported that applications to US full-time MBA programmes fell 27% for the incoming class of 2028, with international applications down 38%, amid visa uncertainty and competition over financial aid. In a separate report it said the Texas Department of Agriculture will bar businesses that employ H-1B visa holders from certain grants it administers. The H-1B is the main US visa for skilled foreign workers.
South China Morning Post looked at where some of that talent is going. It said tightening US visa restrictions and geopolitics are locking Asian researchers out of Western institutions, and that South Korea is emerging as a new academic sanctuary. It quoted Yoo Ji-beom, president of Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, describing a wider shift of applied technology from the West towards China, Japan and South Korea.
How each outlet framed it
- Hindustan Times — the cost at home: fewer MBA applications and a state-level H-1B penalty.
- South China Morning Post — the winners: Asian universities gaining scientists the US is losing.
What we don't know yet: whether the fall in applications will turn into lower enrolments, and how many researchers are actually moving to Korea. Neither report gave a figure for that.