Are International Undergraduates Struggling Academically

"Our international undergraduates are struggling academically" is a generalization that some administrators, advisors, and faculty have asserted recently at a west coast public university in the United States. Administrators who have made this generalization additionally have stated that international undergraduates in general are eligible for academic probation, disqualification, or dismissal. Advisors who have made this generalization additionally have indicated that their appointments with international undergraduates in general are about academic struggles. Faculty who have made this generalization claim that international undergraduates' English writing skills generally are deficient.This generalization drew attention and it has been repeated even though it was anecdotal (the administrators, advisors, and faculty have not collected, statistically analyzed, or reported relevant data to support their generalization, to our knowledge). Repeating this generalization increases the likelihood of decisions that will be costly and/or ineffective due to the absence of guiding data about the allegedly struggling undergraduates' numbers and characteristics such as applicant type (first-time freshman vs. transfer), class level, country of citizenship, gender, self- reported immigration (I-94) status, or major department. For example, decisions could be made to develop and implement specialized programs for all international undergraduates when, in reality, only a small percentage needs or would benefit from such programs.In the absence of guiding data, one possible explanation for the repetition of this generalization is that an increase in the number of international undergraduates enrolled at the west coast public university has resulted in a proportional increase in the number of ones struggling academically rather than that academic struggles are a general characteristic of the university's international undergraduates. For example, the number of enrolled international undergraduates who struggle academically could change from five out of 100 during one year to 10 out of 200 during the next and the proportion of struggling international undergraduates would be stable rather than increasing. Such a scenario could give an erroneous impression that the university's international students in general are struggling academically when, in fact, only a consistently small proportion of international undergraduates struggles from one year to the next.Many American universities have experienced increased enrollment of international undergraduates, as shown by the Institute for International Education's (IIE) recent annual Open Doors snapshot survey (IIE, 2012a). This survey's results showed that the total number of international students enrolled in fall 2012 was higher than in fall 2011 at 61% (340) of participating American universities. Moreover, academic year 2011--12 (AY1112) was the sixth consecutive year in which IIE's Open Doors report showed an increase in the total number of international students in U.S. higher education-31% more international students studied at U.S. colleges and universities in AY1112 than a decade ago. New internationals enrolling in 2011 increased 7% from 2010, and this increase was largely attributable to Chinese undergraduates studying in the U.S. whose numbers were up 31% (IIE, 2012b).An increase in the number of international undergraduates also has occurred at the aforementioned west coast public university (cf. IIE, 2012a,b). This university is one of the Open Doors snapshot survey's 340 participants and its data in the snapshot survey show that it experienced an increase in international undergraduates in fall 2012 compared to the previous fall (IIE, 2012a). The number of new first-time international undergraduates (excluding transfers) at this university was 651 in fall 2012 which represents a 91.5% increase from the corresponding number for fall 2011- 340. It stands to reason that the number of international undergraduates who seek advising about academic issues in AY1213 could be greater than in AY1112 simply because of the 91. …