Challenges for Foreign Students

    Education is a process where students acquire knowledge, skills, values, and habits. (Bradbury, 1999).  Education is a right for all human beings, and it needs to be accessible for all people without discrimination. However, in some countries, education might be difficult for some students who encounter some challenges such as lack of resources or inadequate infrastructure. In the United States, there is a huge quantity of resources and technologies; even so, foreign students face three big challenges that they need to overcome: language barriers, class schedule, and financial issues.

    The first challenge is language barriers that prevent students from communicating ideas and acquiring knowledge. As a result, students cannot advance in their careers until they learn the language. For example, A foreign student in the United States must level his English skills before continuing his education in the university. To level his knowledge of English, the foreign student will have to master grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions and technicalities, and so forth. Obviously, this will not be an easy task, it will require effort and sacrifices.

    Another challenge for foreign students is class schedules. For students who need to work and study at the same time, this represents a headache. For instance, the schedule for English As A Second Language classes in San Jose Community College, sometimes interfere with the hours of work.  Therefore, the students can’t take as many classes as they want, and they don’t advance quickly in their learning. Also, some class schedules overlap with others, for example, a class ends at 6:30 p.m. and another begins at 6:00 p.m. So, students will only have the opportunity to take one class at this time.

    The last challenge is financial issues. The high cost of education in colleges or universities is the biggest difficulty that foreign students confront in the United States. Many students in this country need to pay their tuition and their living expenses. For some students this represents a problem. For example, in San Jose State University (SJSU) students who can’t afford these expenses are forced to live on the street or in their car. According to a report issued by the Community School Initiative in SJSU nearly 4,300 students are “homeless or have experienced some form of homelessness during their careers”.

In conclusion, it is easy to understand the difficulties that foreign students face in this country, such as the lack of language, inappropriate class schedules and financial hurdles. Of course, each student will have a different level of difficulty in these aspects, but all of them will need to overcome these challenges.


*Reeves, D./Bradbury, M., MAJORS EXPLORATION: A Search and Find Guide for College & Career Direction, c. 1999


Adda Barrios

ESL 302

February 13, 2019

Essay # 2

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