International Student Study Abroad

There have been studies on the experiences of some different cultural and racial international students like the African and Asian international students. However, there is

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not a whole lot of research on the experiences of international students in the United

States higher educational institutions. I have, therefore, undertaken to review some literature on the experiences of students in other countries outside of the United Sates.

The system of going abroad or overseas to study is referred to as ―study abroad program.‖

I have decided to study the experiences of transnational students studying abroad because of the similarities of experiences that go with being outside ones ethnic, racial and lingual boundaries. According to Kitsantas (2004),

Students from Europe and Oceania experienced the least discrimination‖ (p. 164).

Galloway and Jenkins (2005) conducted a survey on the adjustment problems faced by international students in two States in the United States, Texas, and California.

The survey was to be a comparison of international students and administrative perceptions at two private religiously affiliated universities. 215 international students and 44 faculty members returned their surveys for studies. According to Galloway and

Jenkins (2004), this was a response rate of 52 and 63 percent respectively. The mean adjustment score of the study ranked the three biggest problems for international students in their order of magnitude as financial aid, placement services, and the English language.

When the scores of the faculty and the administrators were published and compared, it was discovered that the faculty and the administrators ―overestimated the extent of the problems the international students were facing‖ except in one area, financial aid (p.

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181). However, this study seems to be contrary to the discovery of the Australian

Hence, the importance of this study that seeks to relate the experiences of international students as each of the challenges of the international students is an ordeal to be addressed.

Research and studies on international students have revealed some of these challenges because the problems and challenges of international students are as numerous as there are international students from different backgrounds and racial origins. The experiences of financial aids, language, discrimination, and loneliness are only parts of the numerous difficulties that confront international students. International students face cultural, social, psychological, and even religious challenges as a result of differences in language, culture and religious orientation as well as racial and tribal disparities.

Furthermore, the different methods and models used to study the tensions that international students face in their host country may have also aided in the production of different result and interests as discovered in some of the studies discussed above. It is therefore certain that a lot has not been done to unravel all the challenges of