I don't really like the idea of granting a fast track citizenship to people who have earned a PhD here, largely because I think it would provide the wrong kind of incentives. People should obtain PhDs because they are interested in PhDs, not because they are interested in citizenship. I also dislike the idea that professors and universities would have this kind of power over their students. Lastly, I think that this sort of immigration scheme may discourage people who already have citizenship from pursuing PhDs, since the working conditions will be determined by just how much crap someone who desperately wants us citizenship will put up with, rather than the value of the PhD itself.
That said, I do agree with you about the making it easier for bright, hard working, educated people. I just think that PhD programs need to clean up their act if they're going to lure us citizens out of law, med, mba (or no grad degree), and if they can essentially award citizenship (but these other programs can't), they won't experience the reckoning they so richly deserve.
@geebee not sure where did you get this insight from, but I think you're spot on in pointing out this. Yes, I think PhD is a mechanism the US government has put up to sift through talented non-citizens. Scientific advancement is only a side-benefit.
That said, I do agree with you about the making it easier for bright, hard working, educated people. I just think that PhD programs need to clean up their act if they're going to lure us citizens out of law, med, mba (or no grad degree), and if they can essentially award citizenship (but these other programs can't), they won't experience the reckoning they so richly deserve.