International students

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
PLAN;
1. INTERNATIONAL
2. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTSThe AFICE Inbound Program (J Visa)
Thank you for your interest in becoming an international exchange student through AFICE. Our Inbound exchange visitor program enables high school-aged students from around the world the opportunity to live with a family here in the United States and learn firsthand about the American way of life. As an AFICE Exchange Student, you will live as a member of your host family, attending the local high school for one academic school year, and becoming part of the community in your new home town. Student exchange can be challenging, but can often result in lifelong bonds, rewarding relationships, and valuable experience that can be found no other way.
Whether you call it Foreign Exchange, Student Exchange, Cultural Exchange, or Youth Exchange, the idea is the same: bringing the world closer together, promoting international understanding via personal relationships. The AFICE Inbound program offers its participants the opportunity to make new friends and become part of a worldwide family. Many hosts and students remain in contact for the rest of their lives, visiting each other and participating in family events for decades to come.
Naturally, there are certain qualifications: AFICE students must be no younger than fifteen and no older than seventeen and a half years old at the time their exchange year begins. AFICE students must currently be enrolled in school, have good grades, and be able to speak and comprehend English well enough to participate in an American high school with no special assistance.
AFICE is designated by the United States Department of State as a J Visa sponsor for the Secondary School Exchange Visitor Program, and we provide each student with the necessary DS-2019 form that is used to obtain the J-1 visa. Please note: the DS-2019 form is very similar in function to the I-20 form that is used to obtain an F-1 Visa. If you have been told you need an I-20 form, it may turn out that the DS-2019 is what you are really trying to obtain. You can read about some of the differences between the J-1 and F-1 visa programs here. National definitionsInternational students studying in a foreign country face a life altering event which can cause distress that can potentially affect their mental wellness.[102] Many students report homesickness and loneliness in their initial transition, experience isolation from peers and struggle with understanding cultural differences while staying abroad.[103] In certain cultures, mental illness is seen as a sign of weakness. Because of this, international students believe they can prevail through their struggles alone without help, which can lead to a decrease in mental wellness.[102]

There are two common symptoms among international students from China in particular: 45 percent of the students faced depression and 29 percent of the students faced anxiety.[104] Stressors that lead international students to struggle with anxiety are rooted in numerous causes, including academic pressures, financial issues, adapting to a new culture, creating friendships, and feelings of loneliness.[105] International students are also more likely to rely on peers for support through their transition than teachers or adult peers.[106] If the student is unable to make friends in their new environment, they will struggle more with their transition than an international student who has established relationships with their peers.[107]

Language and communication barriers have been noted to add to student anxiety and stress.[108] International students face language discrimination, which may exacerbate mental health symptoms.[107] Evidence has not conclusively shown that language discrimination is a greater risk factor than discrimination against foreigners.[107] However, there has not been any conclusive evidence to show whether language discrimination plays a significantly larger role than simple foreigner discrimination.[109]

Since international students are less likely to use individual counseling provided by the university.[110] and may experience even more intense stigmas against seeking professional help,[111] group-oriented ways of reaching students may be more helpful.[112] Group activities, like collaborative workshops and cultural exchange groups, can introduce a sense of community among the students.[113][114] In addition, efforts can be placed to improve awareness and accessibility to mental wellness resources and counseling services.[115] Social workers, faculty, and academic staff can be educated beforehand to provide an adequate support for them.[116]

Study abroad

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Studying abroad is the act of a student pursuing educational opportunities in a country other than one's own.[117] This can include primary, secondary and post-secondary students. A 2012 study showed number of students studying abroad represents about 9.4% of all students enrolled at institutions of higher education in the United States[118][119] and it is a part of experience economy.[120][121]

Studying abroad is a valuable program for international students as it is intended to increase the students' knowledge and understanding of other cultures. International education not only helps students with their language and communicating skills, but also encourages students to develop a different perspective and cross-cultural understanding of their studies which will further their education and benefit them in their career.[122][123] The main factors that determine the outcome quality of international studies are transaction dynamics (between the environmental conditions and the international student), quality of environment, and the student's coping behavior.

Distinctions in classroom culture

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Certain distinctions and differences can become sources of culture shock and cultural misunderstandings that can lead a student to inhibit adaptation and adjustment. For example, a key requirement in many foreign institutions is participation. Failure to participate in the classroom with faculty can be a serious obstacle to academic success and if it is coupled with the view that professors are to be held in awe, then the problem can be reflected in the grades given for class participation. Lack of participation can be interpreted by faculty as failure to learn the course content or disinterest in the topic. This is important since western education mostly requires students to go through double loop of learning where they have to re-frame their dispositions and form a framework of inner agency through reflective actions and practices with the guidance or learning experience obtained through the tutor for responding to professional situations or in complex situations (ambiguous and non-standardized situations), to be equipped with the right set of frameworks and skills for effective professional action.[124]

Some of the identified distinctions are:[125]

Semester system has three models: they are (1) the semester system comprising two terms, one in fall and one in winter/spring (summer term is not required); (2) the trimester system comprising three terms that includes summer (one of these terms can be a term of vacation); and (3) the quarter system comprising the four terms of fall, winter, spring, and summer, and in which the student can choose one of them to take as a vacation.

The schedule of the classes is a standard five-day week for classes, but the instruction hours in a week may be divided into a variety of models. Two common models of choice are Monday/Wednesday/Friday (MWF) and Tuesday/Thursday (TT) model. As a result, the class hours per week are the same, but the length of time per class for the MWF will be different from the TT.
Most foreign institutes value the ideologies of fairness and independence. These standards ensure the rights and responsibilities of all students, regardless of background. Most institutions that define the rights and responsibilities of their students also provide a code of conduct to guide their behavior, because independence and freedom come with responsibilities.
Certain immigration regulations allow international students to gain practical experience during their studies through employment in their field of study like an internship during study, and at other times for one year of employment after the student completes their studies. The eligibility factors are often disseminated through international students office at the college or university.
Faculty differ both in rank and by the duration of their contracts. (1) Distinguished teaching and research faculty hold the most honored rank among faculty. They typically have the doctoral degree and are usually tenured (i.e. on a permanent contract with the school until they retire) and record of their personal excellence accounts for their standing; (2) Emeritus professors are honored faculty who have retired from the university but continue to teach or undertake research at colleges and universities; (3) Full professors are also tenured and hold the doctoral degree. It is length of service and the support of departmental chairpersons, colleagues, and administrators that leads to the promotion to this rank; (4) Associate professors typically hold the doctoral degree and are the most recent to receive tenure; (5) Assistant professors may or may not yet have their doctoral degrees and have held their teaching or research posts for less than seven years; (6) Instructors are usually the newest faculty. They may or may not hold the doctoral degree and are working towards tenure; (7) Adjunct professors and visiting professors may hold professorial rank at another institution. They are not tenured (usually retained on a year by year contract) and they are often honored members of the university community.
Most institutes that accept international students have faculty who are leaders that can integrate the best elements of teacher-centered and learner centered pedagogical styles that integrates and leads students of every background to a path of success. They are careful not to obstruct a student with their own personality or achievements and maintain a resourceful, open and supportive "holding environment". Simplified, meaningful resource dissemination and engaging students in participatory and active learning is the key to this mixed learning. Lack of skill in handling such pedagogical methods might result in straining the students from a "polyvagal perspective" (taking classes in a restless pace disregarding the quality and quantity of the information transferred, which translates as lack of internal agency to make students learn meaningful content by being an educational agent - lack of teacher agency[126]) and at other instances downgrade into a liberal laissez-faire style which might negatively affect students' performance. The skill of the tutor is exemplified in many forms one such as when they are able to keep some students from dominating (attention seeking, disruptive or disrespectful) and to draw in those who are reticent in a participatory section.
Students are expected to know the content of their courses from the class website (structure of the course, frame of reference, jargon) and to think independently about it and to express their own perspectives and opinions in class and in their written work. Open disagreement is a sign of violent intentions in certain cultures and in other cultures it is merely expressing one's opinion; this aspect can be challenging if proper people skills are absent in the group and group development is not given importance. Similar is the case with asking questions: in certain classroom cultures it is tolerated to ask vague questions and this is interpreted as a sign of interest from the student whereas in other cultures asking vague questions is a display of ignorance in public that results in loss of face and embarrassment, even if this behavior is counterproductive for a learning environment, it is largely dependent upon the transaction dynamics in classroom cultures. There are also certain institutes and cultures that disallow student discussion at certain topics and keep limitations to what can be discussed and punitive means for deterring from topics that shouldn't be discussed.[127] But often direct communication is considered vital for academic survival.
Foreign university programs differ from structured programs of universities in certain countries. In each quarter the student is given choice to select the courses they deem important to them for gaining credits. There is no proportion for the number of courses that a student can take in each term; however, program fees paid at a single time can lead to fees deduction in each quarter. In general, students are not recommended to take many courses at a time as they require to gain a certain number of credits to pass a quarter which is dependent upon the grades that they obtain from the courses, and these credits have little to do with the actual credit hours spent for each courses. For the courses students have to pre-register as they are not automatically assigned. Though it is an open structure for course selections, students might be required to take certain compulsory courses for the program as maintained by departments for degree standardization.
Foreign institutions differ in their requirement of the content that a student is required to be familiarized with, and this difference is identifiable in programs which have similar objectives and structures of different universities. Some may be professionally oriented and thus give importance to depth in certain areas, and some might be for providing a breadth of knowledge on the subject. Commonly, some institutes might require the student to master the essentials of a subject as a whole, while others might require the student to master large quantities of content on the subject which might not seem practical in a framework of short period of time (An example is 10,000-Hour Rule).[128] More accessible institutions provide a syllabus of their previous and current programs and courses for better pre- and post- program communication.
Classroom etiquette may differ from institute to institute. In western institutes the old standard of practice for students to address faculty is by their last name and the title "Professor", but it is not uncommon for faculty to be on a first-name basis with students today. However, it is a good etiquette to check with the faculty member before addressing him or her by their first name only. Both students and faculty often dress very informally, and it is not unusual for faculty to roam the classroom while talking or to sit on the edge of a table in a very relaxed posture. Relaxed dress and posture are not, however, signs of relaxed standards of performance. Sometimes faculty, administrators, and even staff may sometimes hold receptions or dinners for their students. In that case, students should ask what the dress should be for the occasion; sometimes students will be expected to wear professional dress (suit coat and tie for men, and a suit or more formal dresses for women). Faculty would not care even if they elicit the need of participation in the classroom or are personally involved with students; even if they engage students in frameworks/styles the student might understand the topic. This is because the faculty-student relationship is considered to be professional. Relationships in the West are most often determined by some kind of function. Here the function is guidance, education and skill development.
In occidental institutions students are evaluated in many ways, including exams, papers, lab reports, simulation results, oral presentations, attendance and participation in classroom discussion. The instructors use a variety of types of exams, including multiple choice, short answer, and essay. Most adept instructors provide guides or models of assignment construction, framing and asking questions about how to prepare for their exams. Most students are expected to be creative in presentation (to avoid similarity in paper submissions), systematic in formatting (citation: Style guide) and invested for drawing and providing positive individualism to the group/class (group purpose, role identity for autonomy, positive thinking, value oriented responsible self-expression, etc. vs. attendant selfishness, alienation, divisiveness, etc.) aligned with the common development objective.
Relationships are an important part of the foreign academic experience and for healthy social support. Relationships with faculty (instructors and academic advisors) are very important for academic success and for bridging the cultural gap. But in off-campus venues, the student can appreciate their life outside of campus, and every time they view one another as individuals, avoid asking favors that can affect teacher-student comfort zones and expect cautiousness from them in an attempt to avoid notions of favoritism and friendliness to break down barriers of role and culture.
A key factor in international academic success is learning approaches that can be taken on a matter from one another and simultaneously assimilating inter-cultural experiences.
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The definition of "foreign student" and "international student" varies in each country in accordance to their own national education system.[2]
In the US, international students are "[i]ndividuals studying in the United States on a non-immigrant, temporary visa that allows for academic study at the post- secondary level."[3]In Europe, students from countries who are a part of the European Union can take part in a student exchange program called the Erasmus Programme. The program allows for students from the EU to study in other countries under a government agreement.
Canada defines international students as "non-Canadian students who do not have 'permanent resident' status and have had to obtain the authorization of the Canadian government to enter Canada with the intention of pursuing an education."[4] The study permit identifies the level of study and the length of time the individual may study in Canada. Unless it takes more than six months, international students do not need a study permit if they will finish the course within the period of stay authorized upon entry.[5]
In Australia, an international student "is not an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, New Zealand citizen, or a holder of an Australian permanent resident humanitarian visa."[6]
According to the Institute of International Education, an international student in Japan is "[a] student from a foreign economy who is receiving an education at any Japanese university, graduate school, junior college, college of technology, professional training college or university preparatory course and who resides in Japan with a 'college student' visa status."[7]

Destinations of foreign students

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Students of different nationalities at an international school in Shanghai, China, 2017. The school does not have a school uniform.
Student mobility in the first decade of the 21st century has been transformed by three major external events, the terrorists attack of 9/11, the global financial recession of 2008 and the new political order with Brexit and election of Trump.[8] The mobility of international students is influenced by many factors including external changes such as the visa and immigration policies of the destination countries to provide pathways of gaining work experience during and after education.[9][10] The competition among nations to attract international students is likely to intensify in the context of COVID-19 and the results of the 2020 US presidential elections. A pre-election survey poll indicated that a quarter of prospective international students are more likely to study in the US if Biden is elected as the president of the US.[11]
Australia has by far the highest ratio of international students per head of population in the world by a large margin, with international students represented on average 26.7% of the student bodies of Australian universities.[12][13]
The greatest percentage increases of numbers of foreign students have occurred in New Zealand, Korea, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Ireland.[14]
Traditionally the U.S and U.K have been the most prestigious choices, because of the presence of top 10 rankings Universities such as Harvard, Oxford, MIT, and Cambridge. More recently however they have had to compete with the rapidly growing Asian higher education market, especially China. In the 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking edition, China surpassed the U.S. with the number of universities including in the ranking for the first time (204 vs.198).[15] China is also home to the two best C9 league universities (Tsinghua and Peking) in the Asia-Pacific and emerging countries with its shared rankings at 16th place in the world by the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[16] While US is the leading destination for foreign students, there is increasing competition from several destinations in East Asia such as China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan which are keen to attract foreign students for reputation and demographic reasons.[17]
According to OECD, almost one out of five foreign students is regionally mobile. This segment of regionally mobile students who seek global education at local cost is defined as "glocal" students]. Many "glocal" students consider pursuing transnational or cross-border education which allows them to earn a foreign credential while staying in their home countries.[18] With the increase in tuition cost in leading destinations like the US and the UK along with the higher immigration barriers, many international students are exploring alternative destinations and demanding more "value for money." Recalibrating value for money for international students It is projected that the number of internationally mobile students will reach 6.9 million by 2030, an increase of 51%, or 2.3 million students, from 2015.[19] The affordability of international education is an area of concern not only for international students but also universities and nations interested in attracting them.[
If you are interested in becoming an exchange student in the United States, please fill out the form below. We will contact you with information on how to start the process. If you live in the United States and wish to host an exchange student, please use our Host Family Contact Form. Thank you! India is an emerging destination for international students. India hosted 49,348 students from 168 countries during the 2019-20 academic year, with the top 10 countries accounting for 63.9% of all international students.
In 2019, India was hosting over 47,000 overseas students and aims to quadruple the number 200,000 students by 2023. India has most its international students and targets from South, Southeast, West Asia and Africa and is running various fee waiver and scholarship programs.

References

1."Education: Inbound internationally mobile students by continent of origin". data.uis.unesco.org. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
"Glossary". Institute of International Education. 2018. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
"United States". www.iie.org. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
"Definition of "International students"". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
Government of Canada; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (7 November 2012). "I want to study in Canada for less than 6 months. Do I need a study permit?". www.cic.gc.ca. Retrieved 10