‘Brain Drain’ Is a Bad Perspective: How Students Benefit from Their Home Countries Even as They Leave Them

The United States has long reaped the benefits that international students and immigrants bring to the country. International students bring a wealth of knowledge to U.S. campuses and contribute $40 billion annually to the U.S. economy through tuition and living costs — activities that support more than 400,000 jobs, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

After graduation, the value to the U.S. is even greater: Highly skilled immigrants—many of them former international students—have consistently driven scientific and technological innovation over the past century, with immigrants accounting for 36% of all U.S. innovation output. Nearly 80% of U.S. unicorns, privately held companies worth billions of dollars, have an immigrant founder or leader, contributing to such important fields as technology, artificial intelligence, and medicine.

THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN STUDENTS ON THEIR HOME COUNTRIES

Given all the benefits that international students who become immigrants bring to the United States, it is natural to wonder what impact emigration has on their home countries, given that knowledge and talent flow disproportionately from the Global South to the Global North. There is still a common misconception that these immigrants contribute to the United States at the expense of their home countries. We believe that the outdated model of “brain drain” has been transformed into “brain circulation,” in which talent is mobile and unconstrained, enabling globally distributed networks of knowledge and skills.

The most direct way that migrants give back to their countries of origin is through remittances. In 2023, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries were estimated at $669 billion, mostly to India, Mexico, China, the Philippines, and Egypt. These remittances are often crucial to recipient countries, helping to reduce poverty, improve nutrition, and build household resilience. In recent years, remittances to developing countries have exceeded the total stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) and formal development assistance.

To stay connected to their roots and help their new communities, immigrants often facilitate business and trade links that benefit both their home and adoptive countries, fueling FDI. In the case of home countries, jobs created by FDI tend to pay better and offer better training than local firms, while new countries receive productivity gains—providing significant opportunities for both countries.

Highly educated immigrants help build future talent, setting a path for success for future generations. In their research, Docquier, Rapoport, Beine, et al. found a positive correlation between highly skilled immigrants and changes in the level of human capital in their country of origin. A recent case study found that when a large number of Filipino nurses immigrated to the United States because of more favorable immigration policies, there was a subsequent increase in the number of those who earned nursing degrees in the country, outpacing those who emigrated.

Many migrants eventually return to their home countries, helping to create businesses that contribute to their economies. In recent years, for example, Tao Zhang attended Wharton and then returned to his native China to start Meituan-Dianping, China’s version of Yelp, and Anthony Tan founded Grab, Southeast Asia’s version of Uber, in his home country of Malaysia after studying at the University of Chicago and Harvard Business School.

Immigrants and international students have also used foreign education to increase their influence and power at home: MPOWER Financing estimates that as of December 2023, 86 world leaders were educated abroad: in the US, UK and the European Union.

Indians are the leaders in brain circulation in their country

India is a prime example of the benefits of brain circulation. The United States has 4.6 million Indian-born immigrants, and thousands of Indian students have gone on to pursue advanced STEM degrees in American schools and stayed on to become leaders in those fields.

Others who had trained in the US returned to India to set up their own institutions or companies, helping to develop India’s Silicon Valley in cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad and creating thousands of jobs. A further influx of skilled Indians who had worked in the US and returned to India with their expertise sparked a major technology boom there.

SUMMARY: PROMOTING STUDY ABROAD IS KEY TO HELPING EVERYONE

Encouraging global education and brain circulation is not just a hopeful idea; it is a necessary step for progress in the Global South. Youth populations in South Asia and Africa continue to grow—young Africans are expected to make up 42 percent of the world’s youth population by 2030. However, these regions are not yet prepared to handle the projected demand for higher education, which is why many students need to study abroad.

Rather than seeing this as a challenge for source countries, they should embrace access to high-quality education for international and immigrant students. Their skills and contributions enable global success, benefiting both source and host countries. Rather than fearing brain drain, countries around the world should encourage brain mobility.

Sasha Ramani is the head of corporate strategy at MPOWER Financing, a non-profit corporation that offers scholarships and co-signer loans to international students coming to the United States and Canada. To learn more about MPOWER Financing, visit www.mpowerfinancing.com. Dr. Rajika Bhandari is a principal of Rajika Bhandari Advisors, an international research and education strategy firm, and an author and speaker on international student mobility. Learn more about her work at www.rajikabhandari.com.

DON’T MISS THE COMMENTARY: THE YEAR OF DEMOCRACY AND AMERICA’S ROLE IN THE WORLD