According to The Wall Street Journal (January 26, 2010), most foreigners who come to the US to earn doctorate degrees in science and engineering stay on after graduation, despite fears of a post 9-11 drop. It reports, "newly released data revealed that 62% of foreigners holding temporary visas who earned Ph.D.s in science and engineering at U.S. universities in 2002, the latest year for which figures are available. Of those who graduated in 1997, 60% were still in the U.S. in 2007, according to the date compiled by the U.S. energy Department's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the National Science Foundation."
According to the data, 92 % of Chinese doctorate holders of 2,129 in 2002 who were in the U.S. in 2007, followed by Indian students 80% of 615 remained in the U.S.
It also reports, "in 2007, foreign citizens accounted for 16,022 of the Ph.D..s awarded in science and engineering in the U.S., or 46% of the total, according to the Oak Ridge data. In contrast, the class of 1997 had 12,966 foreigners, or 30% of the total."