The Challenges in the Cultural Adjustment Process Among International Students at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The purpose of this research is to examine the challenges of international students at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The major challenges include educational programs, stress factors in the cultural adjustment process, and communication with faculty and staff. This study hypothesizes that cultural adjustment process will be met with some challenges that Tinto\u27s student integration model (1975) addresses. Historically, international students not only largely contributed to the economic sector of the United States by providing billions of dollars annually, but also provided great workforce with quality educational background. Despite social and economic contributions from international students, there were not many researches focused on the challenges of international students, for example, their social involvements, which play crucial role in the cultural adjustment process. In addition, this research collects data through an online questionnaire consisting of 16 items. Data is analyzed using computer software called Qualtrics. The questionnaire asks international students variety of questions regarding their cultural adjustment process, social involvement and educational programs. The findings of this research will be beneficial to university administrators, faculty, students and staff, for instance, it can facilitate the designing various educational resources that can help international students in their cultural adjustment process