Higher education is becoming increasingly important to our economy. At the same time, our economy has gone more global, with now almost one third of economic transactions linked to other countries. Is there an intersection in these two trends in terms of who gets advanced degrees at our universities and colleges? Listen

Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"There certainly is, and what we're seeing is an increasing percentage of advanced degrees at U.S. institutions are going to foreign students. In fact, foreign students now account for over half of the Ph.D. degrees in science and engineering, double the proportion 35 years ago. And in my field, economics, two-thirds of the Ph.D.s now being granted in economics are going to foreign students. And there are two reasons for this. First of all, more foreign students are simply going to college, and so there is a bigger base for them to, perhaps, want to come to the U.S. and get degrees. Secondly, the U.S. is widely regarded in the world as having the absolute best universities in the world. So if you're a student getting a bachelor's degree, for example, in China, and you want to go on and get a Ph.D., the U.S. is a perfect place for you to come to. Now, importantly, there is now no evidence that foreign students are taking the place - that is, there is no evidence they are displacing domestic students. But certainly the increase in foreign students getting Ph.D. degrees is affecting the supply of those with advanced degrees, which could ultimately affect salaries."