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For America to face the challenges of the global market, it is important for the administration to take certain measures with regard to higher education. Leaders must sit together and devise strategies and measures to promote America overseas. Today we find a lot of interesting exchange programs which greatly enhance interaction of students from different nations. 

Most of the universities reach out for students from all over the world as there is a strong belief among educators that the only way of promoting knowledge in today’s world is through open dialogue. The 9/11 incident has greatly affected the amount of students coming in to study in America and something urgent has to be done to reverse this situation.

The first step towards achieving this is to attract more American students into the fold. Especially in the field of engineering and science, there is a severe lack of motivated young American students, especially in comparison to their overseas counterparts.

There is a great leaning towards business, politics, law and even arts but no significant interest in the field of science. The world is what it is today because of the tremendous scientific and technological development. It is up to the educators to identify students who score high in SATS in mathematics, attract them to courses in science and engineering and ensure good career opportunities in the field they graduate from.

Students today find other fields such as investment banking more lucrative than science and technology. They do not benefit in any manner with regard to career and remuneration by opting for an engineering degree.

An alarming fact which cannot be ignored is that more than half the student population joining colleges and universities do not even graduate in any field. It is time for universities to analyze this trend and find out the reason for the same. One of the aspects to work on includes better teachers and better pay for them. The demand of the day is to find teachers who are well qualified for the job, dedicated and motivated. To attract such faculty, it is vital to improve their pay structure.

The detrimental trend of feeding students the right answers and teaching them just to answer tests in order to satisfy the funding agencies has resulted in graduates who are far from insightful, creative and critical in thinking. Only universities and colleges can make a difference to the student’s level of thinking and attitude.

Universities in America have played a major role in shaping the nation. America signifies the power of freedom and power of knowledge. It is the duty of every citizen to work towards strengthening the foundation of education and knowledge on which the nation stands. This need has to be addressed on an urgent basis considering how much we are lagging behind in our higher education scenario as compared to nations such as China and India. Leadership is developed right at the grass root level. Higher education should strive to promote and restructure in order to strengthen the base on which our nation stands.