Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Vol. 24, No.1, Spring/Summer, 2006 THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN GRADUATE STUDENTS IN A COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES Sara B. Marcketti Mary W. Mhango Mary B. Gregoire Iowa State University International students are an integral part of graduate education. This research examined the experiences of African graduate students in a College of Human Sciences in the Midwestern region of the United States. Given the research that states international students face specific challenges when studying in the United States, this study sought to examine the experiences of African graduate students receiving advanced degrees. This research used a qualitative research design. Students cited opportunities to grow academically and professionally as primary reasons for study in the United States. Challenges included difficulties balancing responsibilities and lack of culturally familiar resources. Results from this study will be useful to academicians and school administrators attempting to better enhance international, specifically African, graduate student experiences. Hosting international students in colleges and universities is beneficial because these students contribute to the enrichment of higher education, to the strengthening of relations with countries in world trade, and to the promotion of global understanding (Chapdelaine, 2004). The United States annually hosts more than 500,000 students (close to half, 267,876, study at the graduate level). International students constitute 13.3 percent of all graduate students, compared to 2.7 percent undergraduate students (Altbach, 2004). In 2000, more than 34,000 students from Africa traveled to the United States for study (Teferra, 2002). International graduate students complete research that attracts grants and helps guarantee future faculty and program growth. Moreover, the diversity of these students provides contact with other cultures and worldviews for fellow students and brings different research perspectives and life skills into the learning environment. By virtue of living and studying in a foreign country, international students exemplify drive and resourcefulness that could be modeled by all students. Colleges of Human Sciences, including programs traditional to family and consumer sciences including education, human development, textiles and clothing, hospitality, and human nutrition, are concerned with the critical societal issues present today and projected for the future (Iowa State University, 2005). Given the increasing focus on internationalization strategies by many institutions of higher education, Colleges of Human Sciences provide unique opportunities for supporting diverse perspectives. The incorporation of culturally relevant curriculum materials and opportunities for mentoring relationships to ease transitions into new cultural settings has been recommended for diverse secondary and undergraduate students (Allison, 2003; Ralston, Floyd, Fluellen, Colyard, Fields, Rasco, & Bell, 2004). In the present study, the perspectives of African graduate students studying in a College of Human Sciences were explored to better understand their reasons to and challenges of study in the United States. Suggestions for welcoming and integrating international students were included in this study. 63