Recently, I was speaking to an old friend of mine who is looking for a university for his son. He was so frustrated with his experience that he thought he should get into counseling as he didn’t think that the counselors knew what they were talking about.
“That will be really helpful … it will be good to talk through it sometime next week. The reason we want to do it is bcos I interacted with a lot of these so-called counselors for my son and they were all hopeless… all looking at making money that’s it.”
I get this a lot so I thought I’d piggyback on this topic and expand on my views on how to approach this situation. In reality, it is often the parents and students that do not know how to approach the consultant to get what you need.
I wanted to break this down.
First, as a customer, you need to know the market yourself and educate yourself on the basics of the country’s education system that you want your child to attend. It will take one to three years to do that and it is a big purchase so take the time like you would for a car or a house.
Second, you need to be able to go to the consultant and be specific about what you want. In this case, we recommend that you determine how much money you have as a family. If you have more than $100,000, you’d follow one strategy, if you have less than that, another strategy, and so on and so forth. Let us assume that you want to spend the least amount of money possible and you want your child to settle abroad. In this case, for the US, it is best to select the cheapest STEM MS you can find. I have added the link to the pdf with STEM programs so you can read and get familiar with it. You will need to understand that a STEM program is important because your child will get 3 years of work experience and the chance to recover the money.
Third, once you figure out which field, you need to determine the money you have. For example, assume you have $100,000 to spend for the ENTIRE time your child is in the US till they get their green card. This is over 10 years so your budget is $10,000/year and no more than that.
Fourth, realize that after the first STEM program, 2 years ($30,000 tuition and $20,000 living costs), your child will get OPT (optional practical training) for 3 years. If you had a budget of $100,000, to begin with, you have spent $50,000 in tuition and living expenses.
During this OPT time, perhaps your child can earn $50,000/year to not need support and have $150,000 assuming he/she spent no money at all during that time.
After that, he/she will then need to go through another program with CPT (curricular practical training) after those 3 years of free work authorization and pay $20,000/year to have work authorization to attend that for 3-6 years. This is $60,000 to $120,000.
So if you had a budget of $100,000, now have the $50,000 budget.
If your child had $150,000, she/he spent $120,000 of it in education just to work. It can easily take longer than 3-6 years so you may need to send money to the US at that point and remember, you only have $50,000 left.
Thus, your job as a parent is to find the
* Cheapest STEM program in the fields listed below. If you do not do this, your child will not have the opportunity to recover the money later.
* A program that best suits your child’s profile. If your child is street smart, pick the strategy accordingly.
* A job that your child can do upon completion of the program.
So you should learn everything and then go to the consultant and delegate this search to them. Rather than begrudge that they are not interested, give them money with incentives to find you the type of university you need. You need a state school, an accredited one, with the right program, that is approved for H visas and that’s it. Wait for 15 years after the MS to get an MBA at a brand name but until that time, I’d select the cheapest programs I could find and I would find a consultant to do that while I spent my time setting up or looking for job/internship connections.
“DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) STEM Designated Degree Program List is a complete list of fields of study that DHS considers being science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields of study for purposes of the 24-month STEM optional practical training extension described at 8 CFR 214.2(f). Under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)(2), a STEM field of study is one “included in the Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs taxonomy within the two-digit series containing engineering, biological sciences, mathematics, and physical sciences, or a related field. In general, related fields will include fields involving research, innovation, or development of new technologies using engineering, mathematics, computer science, or natural sciences (including physical, biological, and agricultural sciences).” Accordingly, this list designates the following four primary CIP series at the 2-digit CIP code level: Engineering (14), Biological and Biomedical Sciences (26), Mathematics and Statistics (27) and Physical Sciences (40). Any new additions to those areas will automatically be included on this STEM Designated Degree Program List.
This list also includes CIPs from the following 18 related CIP series at the 6-digit CIP code level: Agriculture, Agriculture Operations and Related Sciences (01); Natural Resources Conservation (03); Architecture and Related Services (04); Communication, Journalism and Related Programs (09); Communications Technologies/Technicians and Support Services (10); Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services (11); Education (13); Engineering Technologies and Engineering-Related Fields (15); Military Science, Leadership and Operational Art (28); Military Technologies and Applied Sciences (29); Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies (30); Science Technologies/Technicians (41); Psychology (42); Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services (43); Social Sciences (45); Transportation and Materials Moving (49); Health Professions and Related Programs (51); and Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services (52).”
https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/stem-list.pdf
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