Posted on: Monday, October 20, 2003

EDITORIAL
Foreign students face enough barriers already

Foreign students already pay heavy out-of-state fees for a U.S. college education. And now they can expect to add to that bill as much as $100 to be scrutinized in the wake of Sept. 11.

Certainly, adding another level of scrutiny is one way to track America's some 600,000 international students.

But it can also hamper the influx of students to our universities. It is estimated that international students contribute $125 million a year to Hawai'i's economy. It would be most unfortunate if they took their business elsewhere.

As it is, foreign students are listed in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System database that requires them to report every address and class change. Charging them to clear an additional hurdle seems a little excessive and doesn't really guarantee our security.