Funding the Field, Starving the Classroom: How Higher Education Sports and High-Skilled Visas Mask the K-12 STEM Crisis

This analytical policy paper analyzes three interconnected flaws in the American education system, leading to—but not restricted to—student limitation in domestic development. First, it analyzes how the heavy focus on college athletic programs causes major public universities to pour money into sports rather than academic merit scholarships. Second, it examines how the federal government relies on high-skilled immigration visas, like the O-1 and EB-1A, to fill talent gaps instead of properly investing in domestic K-12 public schools. Finally, it analyzes local curriculum shifts, focusing on changes to advanced secondary STEM tracks within the Neenah Joint School District in Wisconsin and everywhere else in the US as well. Together, these factors reinforce a fragmented system that prioritizes entertainment and international talent recruitment over the long-term development of domestic students.