news@dailylobo.com
@ChloeHenson5
In an attempt to battle unemployment in New Mexico, a nonpartisan organization has proposed providing a more affordable education for international students.
Local tax-exempt organization Think New Mexico printed a report titled “Addressing New Mexico’s Job Crisis” that encourages the state government to provide in-state tuition for international students at public universities, including UNM.
According to the report, Think New Mexico was established in 1999 and aims to “improve the quality of life for all New Mexicans.”
In their report, authors Fred Nathan, the executive director of Think New Mexico, and Kristina G. Fisher recommend that New Mexico establish a scholarship program exclusively for international undergraduate students who are “committed to earning STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and business degrees at New Mexico’s public universities.” The individual schools should determine which students to accept, and academic requirements should be determined by the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the report recommended.
Nathan said Think New Mexico began to focus on the population of international students at public universities when they discovered immigrants are more likely to create businesses than American citizens.
“The research is very clear that the two biggest demographic groups for entrepreneurs are people in STEM fields and immigrants,” he said. “Immigrants are about two times more likely than native-born people to start businesses.”
According to the report, in 2010 620 businesses started nationwide each month for every 100,000 immigrants, while 280 businesses started for every 100,000 nonimmigrants.
About 1 percent of undergraduate students at UNM come from abroad, Nathan said. He said Think New Mexico wants to increase the number of international students attending UNM.
“We’re really trying to dog-tail our efforts with (UNM) President (Robert) Frank’s efforts to expand the number of international students,” he said. “There are so many benefits to existing domestic students from increasing the number of international students at UNM.”
Nathan said domestic students benefit from exposure to international students because they develop cross-cultural fluency and acquire an “international flavor.”
According to the report, Think New Mexico aims to increase the undergraduate international student population at the state’s public universities to 5 percent. The report estimated the cost of this goal would be about $12.5 million.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Nathan said Think New Mexico recommended paying for this by reforming certain tax laws in New Mexico.
“The way we propose to get that money is by closing seven of the 338 tax credit exemptions and deductions in New Mexico,” he said. “And these are ones that don’t really have a good public policy reason for them.”
The report extensively cited Andy Lim, who was an international student at UNM and is now the co-founder and chief executive of Lavu, a software company based in Albuquerque.
Lim said his company has helped the Albuquerque economy by employing local residents and by creating businesses that sell the company’s software. He said at least 80 percent of the people employed at Lavu are UNM graduates.
“Since 2010, when we only had two or three people, we have grown to 38 people,” he said. “So we have created 35 jobs overall … and we also have a lot of people who sell our systems that are making money off of that, too.”
Lim said he came to New Mexico after 1999, when the epicenter of the “biggest earthquake in Taiwan” hit 10 miles from his home. He said he knew a friend who lived in New Mexico, so he decided to live in Albuquerque in order to become a resident to continue his studies at UNM.
“If I wasn’t a resident, I wouldn’t go to UNM,” he said. “So I stayed here for about two years before I went to UNM. So I was able to get in-state (tuition at) UNM.”
Lim said he “absolutely” supports the Think New Mexico proposal to grant in-state tuition to international students.
“(International students) will pay their fair share on getting an education here, and they will continue what they’re doing—helping the economy,” he said. “It’s not like they’re coming, and we grant them money, and they’re not paying anything. They pay their fair share.”
