International Students in Indonesia: A Study on Academic and Socio-Cultural Adjustment

Increasing numbers of international students in higher education sector in Indonesia urges the institutions to pay attention to the students’ adjustment process into academic and non-academic matters. Quality of services and facilities provided by institutions, quality of education and social groups in which they interact become key success of their assimilation. A cross sectional survey toward international students at a prominent university in Indonesia revealed unique obstacles during their transition in both academic and socio-cultural lives. Challenges were mainly due to communication as there was a gap between the students’ and lecturers’ language competence and use. Other difficulties are related to different academic workload, teaching processes, and assessment procedures. As for sociocultural adaptation, the students are still highly dependent on their country's community groups assistance as integration programs, services, and facilities that support their life especially outside the university needs major improvement.