Position Statement: U.S. Talent Crisis

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) serves as the foremost resource and the essential connection for those interested in the employment of the college educated. With more than 3,000 organizational and more than 6,000 individual members, NACE supports and serves the interests of higher education, business, industry, government, and the not-for-profit sector in the development and utilization of college-educated talent for the U.S. and global economy. Consistent with its organizational mission, NACE follows closely trends and issues related to the employment of the college educated and seeks to lend its organizational expertise and perspective when necessary and appropriate.

NACE recognizes that the United States currently faces a talent crisis which, if unaddressed, has dire implications for the economic well-being of this country. While American colleges and universities successfully recruit and educate top talent from around the world, current U.S. government policies concerning the H-1B visa and employment-based green card programs virtually shut that talent out of the U.S. job market, forcing those students to take their skills and abilities elsewhere. At a time when college-educated talent has never been more essential to this country's economic success, highly educated and capable individuals have no choice but to leave this country and seek employment with competing companies in Europe, Asia, and around the world. This situation becomes even more ominous when assessed against current trends in college attendance and success rates among U.S. nationals. The potential college-educated talent pipeline—especially in the critical STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math) and among underrepresented populations—continues to dwindle, putting the U.S. economy even further at risk. NACE supports the advancement of supportive governmental policies and relevant legislation that would allow U.S.-educated foreign nationals to compete fairly and openly for employment in this country—including a market-based H-1B visa cap, a streamlined employment-based green card process, and the end to arbitrary obstacles to the employment and permanent residency of foreign-born master's and Ph.D. graduates from U.S. universities. In conjunction with these efforts, NACE also endorses any efforts by the public and private sectors to encourage and support the enrollment and retention of qualified U.S. nationals in those academic disciplines and programs critical to the long-term success of the U.S. economy.

October 2007