The United States is an attractive place for foreign students to apply to for their higher education and because of this influx of students, the United States is uniquely placed to offer to the best and the brightest opportunities for their knowledge and skill-sets to be utilized in America upon their graduation as opposed to returning these well-educated and talented young men and women to their homeland or other foreign countries so that they can apply their knowledge in those places instead. It is pure foolishness to take foreign students with F-1 visas and not to make it a concerted policy of America that these same, successful students are given the inside track of receiving H-1B work visas upon their successful graduation. The United States should make it a clear policy that they desire the best minds in the world to be residents and citizens of this country and not to let slip from their hand the very people that can be a net benefit to society as a whole.
Look at it this way, what is the point of developing great minds, only to export them to other countries? The United States should be grateful that the best and the brightest throughout this entire world have a strong desire to receive their higher education here. Once receiving these fine young students, it should be a government policy along with the coordination of University campuses to develop this young talent, to acclimate these young students to America, with the expressed purpose of soliciting them to work in America, as opposed to leaving this country. Certainly, some students will leave America, that is their choice, but to not actively pursue them here, to not have policies in place to entice them, is a fundamental mistake in policy.
With the advancement of technology, there is a strong desire for students that excel in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in which for the most part, in those industries; the strong command of the English language is not a necessity, making it a very good fit for foreign students whose strong suit is not the English language. There isn't any reason, though; to limit our desire for graduates to just these fields, as the best and the brightest encompasses the entire domain of human intelligence and knowledge.
America is also unique amongst countries as the primary and best living example of a nation that is a true melting pot that embraces and assimilates all nationalities, all creeds, and all people, as Americans. While virtually every country in the world has peoples within it that are not native to that particular creed, origin, or color, these different peoples in those countries are often treated as lesser or unequal, whereas America has made many giant strides over the last fifty years to encompass all people as their own, and not limiting Americans to being just White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants (WASP) as it was once primarily known as.
There is a misconception that to be an American, you must be born here, or to legally immigrate here, but that definition is far too narrow and far too confining. To be an American, you must be willing to work hard, to apply yourself, to embrace liberty, and to dedicate yourself to achieving something of real worth. The United States should make it a firm policy that they desire the best and the brightest to be Americans, and to welcome them through our golden door.