A Preliminary Analysis and Comparison of International and U.S. Students' Academic Performance in a U.S. Business College

The Institute of International Education’s 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange shows that the influx of foreign students attending U.S. colleges grew 7.1% to 1,043,839 representing 5.2% of the... [ view full abstract ]

The Institute of International Education’s 2016 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange shows that the influx of foreign students attending U.S. colleges grew 7.1% to 1,043,839 representing 5.2% of the 20,264,000 U.S. college enrollments for that year. The purpose of this study is to examine a sample, n =165, of E. Craig Wall, Sr. Wall College of Business (WCOB) alumni, in the college’s dual degree program, partitioned on international alumni, n = 15, to analyze the effect of international student origin on their GPAs and ETS Major Field Test (MFT) scores. This study finds the 2015 PISA academic mathematics, reading and science assessment scores for the countries represented by WCOB international alumni are higher than their domestic peers.  A comparison of international dual degree and domestic student WCOB GPA and Major GPAs in both instances on average show WCOB dual degree international students have higher scores.  Although WCOB international dual degree students have a slightly lower Educational Testing Service Major Field Test (ETS MFT) score than their domestic peers, the preponderance of evidence provides modest support of the persistence of learning and the assertion that WCOB international dual degree alumni are at least as academically qualified as their domestic peers when they graduate from the WCOB dual degree program.