Among the new INS regulations governing "international" (i.e. foreign) students in the U.S. is a regulation limiting the number of credits that can be earned through DL or online courses by a fulltime foreign student. The following from http://www.grad.sunysb.edu/International/NewINSRegs.htm:
Can you help me to understand the implications of this new law? I'm imagining that this means that some non-US citizen, living away from the US, cannot enroll as a full-time student in a US DL university and therefore cannot get some sort of student visa that would allow them to enter the country, etc. etc. Is this it, a means of restricting legal access to the country? Jack
That's also my impression, Jack. I haven't read all of these regulations, and I'm not familiar with the process, but it sounds like the intent is to keep people from using online courses in order to legally reside in the US. If someone is solely taking online courses, then this would make sense, since they wouldn't need to reside in the US in order to do this. However, if someone is actively involved in some portion of their degree that requires residential attendance, I don't see why it should matter if the rest of their coursework is being done online. For example, if an undergraduate is doing senior research for 3 credits, taking a required traditional course for 3 credits, and taking three online courses for 3 credits each, it sounds like they wouldn't be eligible for a visa. I wonder if this will prevent schools with a lot of foreign students from moving toward more online courses.
This is exactly my concern. An example, from University of Hawaii: "... there are new restrictions on distance education courses which do not require students to be physically present on the UHM campus. The new rules create difficulties for international students enrolled in at least two UHM graduate programs, which incorporate considerable on-line course-work." (From http://www.kaleo.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/16/3e2667435aeb0.) I think this may discourage major U.S. universities from moving graduate programs online.
When a foreign student is admitted to the United States on an F-1 visa, the purpose of his non-immigrant entry to the United States is to attend school-- nothing else. Off-campus employment, "cultural" activities (like subsisting on fast food) are all incidental to that primary reason for entering the country. When the need to be physically present in the U.S. for full-time school attendance comes to an end, he is no longer "in status." The purpose upon which his entry was premised has been fulfilled, or abandoned, and-- in theory more than practice-- it's time to leave. Since a purely distance-ed course does not require physical presence in the States, the school can't issue an I-20 (certification by the school that a foreign student is enrolled full-time in a degree or similar program requiring presence in the States, prerequisite for visa issuance or entry.) Problematic. But why would this affect a school's decision to start online programs? The people who want to attend full-time, residential courses will still be eligible to. A potentially greater audience will still enroll in the online program.
It might have an effect because not all programs that involve online course are - or more to the point, will be in the future - entirely online. Many schools have been moving, in their "traditional" on-campus programs, toward offering online courses along with residential courses. This new rule might prevent a foreign student from enrolling in a program that involves, for example, 50% online coursework. Thus, this new rule creates constraints that could have a profound affect on any decisions (by schools with a significant number of foreign students) to move toward offering mixed-mode programs that involve simultaneously taking online and residential courses. It's also worth noting that even online courses can benefit from physical residence on (or near) campus, since a student can take advantage of consulting with an instructor in-person during office hours.
Also, there are many US DL graduate programs that require short-term residencies. The entire "courseload" may be DL but you have to show up for seminars, meetings with faculty, etc.. Without a visa these programs will be out of reach for non-US students. It is my understanding (based on nothing more than news reports) that many, many people come to the US on student visas and remain here even after the visas have expired. Often they do not really attend their school program, they have used this primarily as a means to enter the country. Is this a myth? I'm guessing, "no." There are so many illegal aliens in this country and they have employed so many methods to get here, this seems no less likely than, say, riding in a cargo container onboard a ship from Asia. Jack
BoyOboyOboy, it sure seems like a bad sign when you start responding to your own postings. Maybe someone could start a thread entitled, Signs That You Need To Get A Life And Stay Away From Degreeinfo. Before that happens, however, I'd like to share this little article from the South African newspaper, The Mail and Guardian... http://www.mh.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=10131 (I wonder what alt.alt.alt.alt.alt is up to these days?) Jack
