International student satisfaction assessed

For the most part, international students studying in the U.S.A., U.K., and Australia, the U.S.A. and elsewhere are satisfied with their experience (3.09 for undergraduates and 3.08 for graduate students on a 4 point scale) but the patterns of satisfaction very with the country where they study as well as their own country of origin.  A study conducted by International Graduate Insight included 60,000 participants who studied at 48 different universities.

Some of the more interesting implications of the study include:

• European students studying abroad are the most satisfied and Asian students the least satisfied.
• First-generation learners (parents without tertiary experience) were generally less satisfied than those whose parents studied at university.
• The degree of integration with domestic students of the country went down as the number of that nationality studying at the university went up.
• While academic content exposure was rated high, social aspects of their experience such as friendship with domestic students, organized social activities, and help with work, visa processing, etc. were lower.

Overall, the assessment of international student satisfaction doesn't sound any alarm bells but the study sponsors encouraged policy makers and educators to not be complacent about study enrollment without some attention to what's working and what's not.