When reading over this article, I was intrigued by the section on student mobility.  I had personally never heard of the definitions described, differentiating “degree mobility” and “credit mobility” – while they differ greatly, I had never given much thought to these concepts.  This topic was particularly interesting to me because, just a few weeks ago, I attended and assisted with the International Student Orientation program at John Jay College and learned an array of information about J-1 and F-1 visas, work regulations for international students while in school and post graduation, and how difficult the application process to study in the US can be.   Students are able to work for up to 12 months post graduation through Optional Practical Training, but only in their field of study, which is very restricting.  The US ranks among the worst countries for international students to find work post graduation, especially after the recession http://www.studyabroad.careers360.com/best-and-worst-countries-work-after-study-opportunities.  Australia has seen a resurgence in Indian students applying to their schools because of changes to visa regulations that would allow students who graduate from an australian university to apply for a visa of up to 4 years.  I personally lived and worked in Australia on a work-holiday visa and felt the opportunities to find work as a foreigner were plentiful and they welcomed us with open arms.  I do not feel the same goes for the United States.

I also realized that almost 100% of the international students I encountered, planned to be at John Jay for their full term of their degrees. I feel that this differs greatly from American students who chose to study outside of the U.S., as they usually study for a finite amount of time.  The amount of incentives, admissions preferences and financial benefits of U.S. students choosing to complete their full degree makes me wonder why our students do not take more advantage of this?  We constantly hear about how tuition is too expensive and students are graduating with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt, yet there are countries who offer free tuition, among other incentives, why would they not take advantage?  Countries like Denmark and Germany offer international students free tuition.  In addition, some programs offer programs for bachelor degrees in 3 years and masters degrees in 1 year.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/6-reasons-american-teens-may-want-to-get-their-college-degree-abroad_us_55f839b9e4b00e2cd5e7f6be  I believe this information is not readily available to our high school students and their parents when they make these important decisions on where to go to college.  Governments should target high schools to make this information more readily available and launch campaigns to provide information on incentive programs and I think we would see an increase in US applicants seeking full degrees abroad.