Should International Students’ fees be lower?
...y College in the Student Service and Administrative Services International Admissions, says, “The rate of foreign students’ fees depends on the university or college, but most of the time the international students fees are nine to ten timers higher than the U.S. citizen.” Along with expensive fees, it is mandatory for international students to take at least twelve units per semester; otherwise, they risk having to return to their homeland. Therefore, if foreign students intend to continue studies in the United States, they have to come up with nearly 2500 dollars per semester. Other than outrageously expensive fees, there are very little financial aid programs available for international students; because most grants, scholarships and loans from public and private sources are restricted to U.S. citizens. 66 percent of all international students receive the majority of their funds from family and personal sources, and, when other sources of funding from their home country governments or universities, are added in, a total of nearly 75 percent of all international students funding comes from sources outside of the United States (“International” 3). Consequently, foreign students are always struggling with money and wise spending is vital to their educational survival. The Economic Statistics, by the Institute of Hau 3 International Education, show that international students contributed 7,143,000,000 dollars from tuition and fees to the United States economy in 2002-2003 year. Also, employment opportunities for international students are limited. Most foreign students are not eligible to work; and if they are eligible to work, they are restricted to on campus jobs and are permitted to work a maximum of twenty hours a week. According to an article from the American University Career Center, “Federal regulations permit the employment of international students on F-1 and J-1 visa within certain limits” (“Hiring” 3). As a result, foreign students cannot rely on the money from their part-time jobs to help pay for their studies. “If international students work any amount of time over twenty hours, they may lose their status as a student and either have to reapply for a new student visa with Immigration and Naturalization Service or go home” (1), said David Scott, a NewsNet staff writer. Sometimes, the institution would not even give the international student the complete twenty hours of work. For example, I have been working for two semesters at Cosumnes River College as a tutor and I’m only given twelve hours a week, which isn’t really enough to pay for food. Opponents argue that foreign student fees should stay the same for several reasons. First, international students are not the only ones that are paying high fees because U.S. out-of-state students are paying almost the same fees too. Yes, it is true that the out-of-state students are paying high fees, but foreign students are paying many other feels, on top of the enrollment fee. For example, international students have to pay fourteen dollars, on top of the non residential fee and enrollment fee, for Capital outlay fee and a one hundred dollars fee to cover the cost of the Students and Exchange Visitor Hau 4 Information System (SEVIS), to mention a few. According to an article from The Los Angeles Times, “About 200 international students at the University of Massachusetts have refused to pay a new $65 a-semester fee” (“In” 1), which is a demonstration of one of the many different kinds of extra fees that plague the international student. Second, financial aid should be reserved for U.S. citizens because international students have never paid U.S. taxes before and also have not contributed anything to the United States. Trustee Timothy Hirschberg says, “I don’t want our local taxpayers to subsidize the education of foreign students. With the squeeze hitting our public institution today, we need to be responsible to our local taxpayers” (qtd.in Sommer 1). I agree with that, but immediately when foreign students arri...