How to Retain International Students

It's a cycle many colleges and universities will recognize: Year after year, international student offices invest significant money and staff bandwidth recruiting international students. But too many of those students ultimately struggle, pack their bags, and return home degreeless and vocally dispirited about the university. Rinse and repeat.

“It’s … a misstep to fail to recognize the impact that international student attrition has on the reputation of the institution abroad,” says Elizabeth Matthews, assistant director of the office for international students and scholars at Michigan State University. “If a school is not perceived as providing a welcoming environment and high academic standards, they’ll likely see applications from highly prepared and academically excellent international students fall.”

The solution, institutions are finding, lies in thorough preparation, attending to international students’ specific practical needs, and properly leveraging expertise.

Put Problems in Perspective

International students are less likely than domestic students to drop out. But of course the ramifications of each international student dropout ripple much farther than a domestic student’s does. Far more money is expended in recruiting each student from abroad, and more and more institutions are becoming dependent on the full-fare tuition dollars that international students bring with them. The number of international students in the United States has jumped 85 percent in the last decade. While universities are still working to overcome the challenges, they are beginning to reflect best practices in combating common attrition triggers. 

Experts and practitioners say the first step toward better retention ratios actually starts before a student