Problems of International Students in the USA
I am friend with many international students. Some of my relatives came to USA as a student. I have seen and heard the problems they have to go through. So I decided to work on finding what are the main problems international students have to face and try to find some kind of solution.
Why does it matter?
- Based on the record of 2019-2020 about 1.1 Millions international students come to U.S. in one school year.
- While talking about Boston alone, there are 29 colleges and universities.
- In average 24% of total students in Boston are international students. And, not all these students are prepared for life in USA.
Process
I started with asking them “what are the three things you wish you had known before coming to USA as an international student?”
There were many answers based on individual experiences. While looking them closely I started to see common patterns.
Categorizing Pain Points
- Communication: Accent, pronunciation, vocabulary
- Finance: Just enough funding, everything is expensive in local currency, work limitations
- Social life: cultural shift, loneliness, difficult to make friends, social norms and values, food
- Immigration Status: Constant thinking about the status maintenance (F1, OPT, CPT, H1B), uncertainty in visa rules, difficult path to permanent residence
Survey
38
Responses
Narrowing down
Looking at the survey data and conducting more research I came to know that trying to find problems of all international students and trying to create a solution is too ambitious. I decided to narrow it down to South Asia. Still Significant numbers of students come to USA from this part of the world. They are unique than other because they have different sets of needs and priorities because of their culture, social life and economic situations.
Interviews
6
Interviews
Interviewed current international students as well as those who first came here as an international students.
Categorizing Pain Points
- Finance: For most of the international students from this region, finance is one of the biggest problem. They have to depend upon their parents for tuition fees and living expenses. They can work 20 hrs a week in school which can hardly pay their living.
- Job after graduation: After graduation they can apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT). A students have to find a job in their field of the study within 3 months of getting OPT accepted. If not, they have to go back or have to join school to stay in status.
- Permanent residence: Many of them want to work and live here for better opportunity and better life. Only the way to work and live here is getting H1B and finally green card which allows to live and work in USA freely. Not all compony sponsor for green card. Even if they do it is a very expensive and tedious process.
Journey map
Working Together with International Students
Listing Problems
Prioritizing Problems
Conclusion
Community and Resources
Going back to the surveys, interviews and co-design session, I came to know that Community and resources for information can help international students the most. They are lacking a place to go to ask questions and get information.
Ideation
Big Idea Vignettes
