The Perceptions of College Life Among International Music Students at American Universities

The purpose of this multiple-case study is to explore and describe the rewards and challenges facing international music students at American Universities. The research included two major questions: (a) what rewards and challenges do international music students face at an American university? And (b) what motivation do they have for graduating from an American university? Data collection included: semi-structured interview, field notes from observation, and focus group interview. The participants were three graduate international music students attending two major music institutions in the Midwestern United States. There were five emergent themes from the data analysis: institution preference, important of music in the U.S., social barrier, satisfaction of the program attending, and opportunities. The results from this research support earlier research in the literature that music international students preferred university in the United States because they felt the importance of music education in U.S. public education. Second, they preferred institutions with quality faculty and programs. Furthermore, international students attend American universities for better employment opportunities. In addition, they encountered social barriers in interacting with local students even without the language barrier