We visited a few private schools in state that were straight up honest about not accepting multiple students from the same HS. They were also very vocal about what states they were eager to get students from.
“The manager is not American, but has been here over twenty years.” And what’s your point?
Again, they could— its a choice, not a mandate.
It is germane inasmuch as he may have had very different experiences with how the university system worked in his home country and little exposure to our system. In many places there are very limited numbers of seats and the competition for them can be fierce. The American system is broader, not necessarily as cutthroat, but if he didn’t know that he might well be playing the game under some very different rules.