This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Ling LeBeau and Steve Schaffling spent five years building and refining a framework for supporting international students at Syracuse University, culminating in the establishment of the International Student Success Model, launched by the Office of Academic and Career Advising/Office of Student Success in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. A new peer-reviewed study shows that work produced consistent gains in retention, mentoring satisfaction and career readiness across four cohorts of incoming first-year international students.
LeBeau, director of international student success, and Schaffling, assistant dean of student success in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and the Maxwell School, co-authored "International Student Academic Success: A Practice-Based Model for Retention and Advising in Higher Education," published in the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. The peer-reviewed article presents the first longitudinal, practice-based assessment of a structured international student success model published in the field. The study draws on two sources of data: a 2022 global survey of 255 academic advisers conducted in partnership with NACADA, the global community for academic advising, and five years of program assessment data collected at Syracuse from 2020 to 2024.
Together, they make the case for why international student success has been underserved—and what a structured response can look like. The need, the survey data suggest, is significant. Fewer than four in 10 advisers surveyed believed their institution successfully supports new international students in their academic transition.
Only 19% thought their institution adequately prepares international students for life after graduation. And 96% expressed a need for professional development on advising international students, a near-unanimous consensus that the field recognizes a gap and is ready for a new approach. The article documents the development of Syracuse's five-pillar model: prearrival academic coaching, peer mentoring, adviser training, academic intervention and communication.
It tracks outcomes across four cohorts of incoming first-year international students and shows consistent improvement across nearly every measured dimension. Satisfaction with the peer mentoring program rose sharply, from 38% of students reporting the highest level of satisfaction in fall 2021 to 87% in fall 2024. No students reported dissatisfaction in any of the four cohort years.
Students who engaged actively with their peer mentors maintained average GPAs between 3.34 and 3.48, outperforming their less engaged peers by as much as half a grade point in some years. The Academic Success Compass, a structured advising resource developed as part of the model's academic intervention pillar, produced gains across a range of skills and behaviors. Students who could identify degree requirements increased from 72% to 100%.
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