Foreign MBAs denied work in U.S.

TEXT OF STORY

Bill Radke: The U.S. bank bailouts are beginning to hit highly-skilled immigrants. Some foreign students about to graduate from U.S. business schools have had their job offers pulled away. From London, Stephen Beard has that.

Stephen Beard: Bank of America has just given some foreign MBA students in the U.S. the bad news. They won’t be getting a job with the bank after they graduate this summer.

The bank blames a clause in the latest bailout legislation. Bank of America’s already received $45 billion in government money. It’s laying off thousands of American workers. So under the recent stimulus bill, it may not apply for visas for highly-skilled immigrant workers.

Stefan Szymanski is with the Cass Business School. He says discriminating against foreign students in this way is regrettable, but hardly surprising:

Stefan Szymanski: All countries devoting large sums of public money to recovery plans will inevitably direct those resources towards national citizens who have votes rather than foreign citizens who don’t.

But critics of the move say it could turn off hundreds of foreign students from enrolling with American business schools.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.