The Experiences of International Students in a Predominantly White American University

Authors

Lawrence Ejiofo, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

Spring 4-20-2010

Comments

A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts, Major: Educational Administration, Under the Supervision of Professor Rachelle Winkle-Wagner. Lincoln, Nebraska: May, 2010
Copyright (c) 2010 Lawrence Ejiofo

Abstract

The events of September 11, 2001 ignoble acts by few individuals on students’ visas in the United States have brought consequent restrictions of visas for international students into the United States institutions of higher education. These restrictions undoubtedly brought a fall in number of international students’ applications to American higher educational institutions. The last few years have witnessed once again a growth in the number of international students that come to study in the United States. However, the events of the terrorists’ attack have drastically influenced the ability of international students to integrate into American universities. As a result of this incident, many question the open acceptance, the safety, the security and the indeed the integration of international students in predominately American institutions. This thesis is an effort to discuss the experiences of international students in the post September 11, 2001, (9/11), era.

This qualitative study was conducted with eight international students from different countries in a predominantly white university in the Midwestern part of the United States. The participants were interviewed from a semi-structured questionnaire. From this interview three major themes were formed namely: (a) Here is different; here is not home, (b) There are differences in culture; and (c) The strong effect of cultural differences. The experiences of the international students in a predominantly white university is an honest effort to expose the challenges of international students in the wake of 9/11 while giving suggestions on how international students can be helped to integrate better into white universities in order to insure greater persistence and success of students in the United States universities. The suggestions given in this work will help American higher educational institutions in the wake of global educational market to serve international students better.

Adviser: Rachelle Winkle-Wagner