The down economy, cuts to the university’s budget and fee increases have affected students on many levels. Job-seeking international students have not been immune.
Last summer, the state reduced the 2009-2010 California State University budget by $571 million. Cal State Long Beach’s share of the cut was $44 million. Faculty and staff furloughs were implemented, about 1,000 classes were cancelled, and tuition jumped by 30 percent from the 2008-2009 price. Nonresident student fees also increased.
“When you have an economic situation where money is really tight, you’re going to see a reduction in opportunities for everyone,” Inemesit Williams, study abroad adviser for the Center for International Education (CIE), said. “On top of that, when at the same time you have in increase in fees, students are going to scramble to find ways to cover these new costs.”
Last fall, there were 1,236 international students on campus. That is about 3.5 percent of the nearly 35,000-student population. They come from more than 40 countries from Australia, to Brazil and Zambia, with more than half from East or Southeast Asia.
Of these, 673 are pursuing a bachelor’s degree, 464 a master’s degree, 2 are working on a doctorate, six are seeking credentials, and 88 are exchange students.
International students have either an F-1 student visa or a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa. Under U.S. law, these visas allow them to work on campus, or off campus in a field related to their studies for a set time during school and after graduation.
Those who aspire to work for several years need a company to sponsor their application for an H-1B Temporary Worker visa. As the U.S. Department of Labor defines it: “The H-1B program allows an employer to temporarily employ a foreign worker in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant basis in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability.”
The spike in unemployment over the past year and a half in Southern California has increased the stakes for international students who want to land a long-term job. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Los Angeles County was 12.4 percent in March, up from 7.9 percent in August 2008.
The Career Development Center (CDC) on campus has hosted workshops targeting international students. These include seminars on finding an internship and writing an American-style résumé. CDC Counselor Wayne Tokunaga stressed the importance of doing all one can to be marketable.
“If your experience is the exact same as a U.S. citizen’s, they don’t have to sponsor a U.S. citizen for H1B,” Tokunaga said. “They’ll just go with a U.S. citizen because it’s easier.”
Competition is fierce for on-campus jobs. Because of the budget cuts, departments throughout the university were told to limit student hires. In other instances, jobs that would have normally been open to anyone were reclassified as work-study positions. Work-study is a form of financial aid available only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, in which a set amount is paid in exchange for hours worked.
CIE Senior Director Nathan Jensen said, “Most students are looking for just a part-time job to supplement their income a little bit to pay for expenses. Right now they’re restricted to only on campus employment. So when the campus has budget troubles and we cut back on the student assistants we’re hiring, that’s less jobs available for international students.”
With the current economy, for some local students, it is every man for himself. Joseph Dondero, a first-year film student saw his father, a police officer, receive a pay cut due to the state budget problems.
“We should focus more on fixing our state’s budget and our country’s debt in general than giving people who come to this country just to study jobs,” Dondero said. “We should focus on giving people who live in this country jobs first.”
Williams noted the delicate balance the university needs to maintain when dealing with this issue. The major purpose of Cal State Long Beach is to serve the local student population, but students from abroad are great revenue boosters.
Annie Tran, a first-year pre-nursing major and local student, said that foreign students need to be able to deal with these circumstances.
“When international students take that big leap, that big risk in coming to a different country to study, they should be able to cope with the difficulty in finding a job as well,” Tran said.
While not always the typical story, Yuying Lu came from Dalian, China in 2007 and graduated last May with a master’s in educational technology. Since then, she has found a job with Pro-Lite, an LED display manufacturer and was sponsored for her H-1B visa. While pursuing her Master’s she worked as a graduate assistant and with the housing dining service.
“The economy is not good, but it doesn’t mean you cannot find a job at all,” Lu said. “There are still chances. There are still opportunities. You need to keep looking for it, just don’t give up. Don’t just focus on school and don’t just focus on the people that you know. Keep looking and build up your own network.”
Vaibhav Shetge of Mumbai, India also keeps a positive attitude. He began his master’s in electrical engineering in 2008. He has been the production and technical director of K-Beach, the on-campus radio station and recently started an internship with Extron Electronics, a company specializing in audiovisual gear. He advises new international students not to get embarrassed about what sort of job one gets while studying.
“In India, not all jobs are looked at with the same respect,” he said. “Sometimes it becomes a mental thing like: ‘I’m an engineer. What kind of a job am I doing?’ But it’s nothing like that. Every job has its own importance. Every job has its own challenges.”
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