Two years ago sophomore Ashna Huq decided the U.S. would offer her an incomparable education, a wealth of opportunity and social freedom. Now Huq sees her dreams only partially realized.

Huq, an economics major, has been following the U.S. financial crisis with concern as her hopes for living and working in the U.S. post-graduation have faded. Huq has made the difficult decision to graduate a semester early and return to her hometown, Dhaka, Bangladesh, because of her diminishing prospects of finding work in America. Huq is not alone – several of her cousins, who also attend college in North America, are changing their plans.

“We all had thought that maybe we’d stay here for a while,” Huq said. “But now we’ve all decided that there’s really no point.”

Huq said she expects to be more successful in her job search at home.

“In Bangladesh having a degree from abroad can definitely hold quite a bit of significance,” Huq said.

Huq’s circumstances reflect those of foreign students across the country. A recent survey conducted by Harvard and Duke universities’ fellow and researcher Vivek Wadhwa found that international students were less likely to seek jobs in the U.S. this year. More than 1,200 students participated in the survey via Facebook. The students’ responses indicated their waning hope in the U.S. economy and increased concern for obtaining work visas postgraduation.

“The results were distressing from a U.S. perspective,” Wadhwa said. “The vast majority of [the students] were talking about going back home, and they didn’t consider the United States to be the biggest land of opportunity anymore.”

Sophomore Samwan Rob, also from Dhaka, Bangladesh, said the economy has made his postgraduation plans uncertain.

“I’m not sure whether I am going to stay after graduation given the economic situation,” Rob said. “I was planning to go home and work, but now I might opt for grad school and use up the time until things get better.”

Though he plans to finish his education at the college, Rob said living in the U.S. has become difficult for him as the economic crisis has worsened and spread to other countries. Rob said, in Bangladesh, the exchange rate is 1 U.S. dollar to about 70 Bangladeshi Taka, and his parents send him money throughout the school year, even though he has a scholarship.

“The situation has gone global so it is affecting everywhere, including my own country,” Rob said.

Rob said the country’s economic problems have also changed his perceptions of the U.S.

“[The crisis] has definitely given me a bad vibe, and the economy here has made people value their material possessions more than they should,” Rob said.

Junior Alex Eliad, a native of Bucharest, Romania, said he applied for 20 summer internships in the U.S. and has not yet received an offer for a paid position. Eliad said he cannot afford to work without compensation and will decline the offers he received for unpaid internships.

“I’m pretty sure if I had graduated a few years earlier it would have been better for me,” Eliad said.

Eliad said he is concerned he will be moving back home in a few weeks, if he doesn’t get a paid internship. He still intends to return and finish school at the college.

Diana Dimitrova, director of International Student Services, said the college is keeping a close eye on its foreign students but is unsure whether the trend revealed in the survey will hold true for its students.

“I haven’t seen a lot of people who are panicking or completely crestfallen, even though it’s hard to be overly enthusiastic about their prospects at this time of year,” Dimitrova said.

Dimitrova said her assessment of the international students at the college is based on the number of students applying for Optional Practical Training visas, which allow students to work in their major field of study for one year after graduation. Dimitrova said this year’s quantity of applications are consistent with previous years, though the application process only began April 1.   

“The students have been realistic about networking in the U.S. and internationally,” Dimitrova said. “They’ve looked at the possibility of graduate school and applying wisely in terms of giving themselves options.”

Larry Chambers, director of the Office of Student Financial Services, said the college has increased financial aid offers to all new students but does not plan to specifically increase aid to international students.

“We do recognize the challenges that international students face because of the lack of funding services available to them,” Chambers said. “Unfortunately our resources are limited so we are not always able to respond in a fashion that we wish we were able to.”  

Chambers said international students are hindered by their ineligibility for domestic resources, like FAFSA, but the college assesses their financial need and merit scholarships similarly to U.S. students.

Tanya Saunders, dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies, said the financial crisis makes securing employment problematic for every student at the college.

“It’s going to be more difficult for everybody, regardless of their citizenship,” Saunders said. “It’s going to be just as difficult for international students as it is for U.S. citizens in this economic climate.”

Saunders also said the student’s individual circumstances will be the largest factors in their decisions.

“I don’t think that going back to their home countries necessarily means that they have a better chance of getting a job,” Saunders said. “It depends on what areas of study they’re in and whether their home countries have employment in that field.”

Like Saunders, Huq said she recognizes the uncertainty of the world economy.

“It’s a global recession,” Huq said. “Even if I do want to go back home, there’s still some repercussions of the economic crisis.”

Senior Tawanda Dzangare, from Harare, Zimbabwe, said the economic crisis has not affected his experience in the U.S. Dzangare said he has received postgraduation job offers from Microsoft and KPMG International accounting firm.

“I did a lot of networking,” he said. “That definitely helped me because my name was already out there.”

Dzangare said he attributes part of his success to the American education system and the college.

“At the end of the day people, like myself, will have jobs when others don’t,” he said. “[The college] did a pretty good job of making me a better person and a better candidate.”

Dimitrova said despite the difficult circumstances for many of the international students at the college, students should remain hopeful.

“The important thing is that people are keeping their spirits up,” Dimitrova. “We all swim in the same sea of bad news.”

As a student at the college, Huq said she has benefited from her American experience more than just academically.

“I really value the kind of human interactions that I’ve had here,” Huq said. “I wouldn’t have had them anywhere else.”