[shas3]

> That is precisely why a lot of us pursue STEM degrees - it is easier to immigrate with a STEM degree, and the job market is favorable.

That's a needless generalization. Can you back it up with data from surveys? It is an offensive suggestion that immigration is an end in itself. People doing PhD just to immigrate? You mean to say you would invest several years into education and forgo thousands of dollars of income and sacrifice certainty just to immigrate to the US? The end for most people doing a PhD is professional excellence, unless proven otherwise with data, immigration is secondary. The reason people choose the US for PhD is either because programs in their own countries are hypercompetitive to get into (not having enough quality PhD programs) and/or because the US is the world leader in research in almost every field in STEM.

[zenbowman]

For someone coming from India, you aren't necessarily forgoing thousands of dollars of income. My PhD years were quite relaxed, you can live frugally, you get a stipend, you work on interesting projects, and at the end of the day you have an option to live in a country with far more opportunity than the one you came from.