Success and retention of international students at University of Wisconsin- Stout

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore five factors of importance to international students' experience on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Stout. These factors included program satisfaction, physical/emotional health, happiness, difficulty of the academic experience, and feelings of welcome by members of the campus community. The data was collected through an online and paper survey formats. Surveys were distributed to 147 undergraduate international students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and a response rate of 32.5% was obtained. The findings indicated that international students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout were generally satisfied with their academic experience, in good physical/emotional health, happy, had a relatively easy experience while attending school, and felt welcomed by the campus culture. Gender, English as a second language experience, residence type, roommate status, years of living in the U.S., college standing, years of English-study at primary school, middle school, high school, and college, and tuition sponsorship did not significantly predict the five primary factors of international students' experience at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.