Stony Brook University

The Stony Brook University has several patents of more than 600 and have been certified by the public institution as one of the best university institutions in the United States. In academia and creativity, the University had enormous achievements delivering on average 10 percent of Intel talent search finalists. The university offers 69 undergraduate students and 89 undergraduate students per year. More than 70% of the overall number of students who register at Stony Brook are roughly graduating and about 3% are registered for postgraduate studies.From a social point of view, 76% of first-year students enrolled on a full-time basis get financial aid to pay for their tuition fee whereas 68% of the total numbers of first-year students enrolled receive grant aid or scholarship from the institution, state government or federal government. These resources in the form of grant and financial support are meant to help needy students from both the local population to pursue their education without any financial interference. Management of the institution is committed to ensuring that the local students attend to their study programs uninterrupted. However, there are some resources which international students at Stony Brook University feel have not been adequately provided to cater for their social needs. The international students feel that something has to be done by management to improve on some of the aspects of social welfare.

First is the state aid program: the program is only available to students who have the United States citizenry which implies that international students are not eligible to receive state or federal aid. International students can only get education funding through a loan from a financial institution or a lender, and sometimes these lenders require a co-signer who is a permanent United States resident. International students term such restrictions as unfair to them because some of them cannot raise tuition fee which makes their life tough at the institution.

International students also lamented the lack of joints on campus where they can have fun, and the university management does not show them a place off campus where they can go and enjoy themselves. The University has two orientation programs namely orientation part I and orientation part II, and both of them takes place on campus. As much as these programs are meant to help international students get accustomed to the United States culture and the University academics, they are more geared towards academics than the social life of students. This is a concern for many international students who feel more should be done about their social life and enjoyment orientation.

Another social issue that has not been addressed is the language barrier for International students because many of these students are not fluent English speakers which make it difficult to find the right words to express themselves. As much as there is English pal program which pairs international students with native English-speaking volunteers for the purpose of helping international students learn English, there are very few native English-speaking students that volunteer for the program. This makes it difficult for international students to participate in discussions and socialize with other students. This implies that there is the lack of or inadequate academic support for minority communities studying in Stony Brook. Statistics show that Stony Brook continues to register lowest rates of retention and graduation for minority international students. International students cannot connect well with the professor, and few international professors are teaching in the University.

References

Communications, S. (2017). Stony Brook Undergraduate Admissions. Stonybrook.edu. Retrieved 20 March 2017, from https://www.stonybrook.edu/undergraduate-admissions/apply/international/

Overview of International Student Orientation. (2017). Stonybrook.edu. Retrieved 20 March 2017, from http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/orientation/international/overview_international_student_orientation.html