Abstract

This paper considers the reasons for the comparatively negative progression rates for international students in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney over the past five years in light of data from the MASUS (measuring academic skills of university students) diagnostic language test, the Student at Risk program run in the Faculty over the past three years and the seventeen years experience of the author working in the area of language and learning in Australian universities. The results show that although language is a major factor, other factors ranging from government policy to time management have a marked effect on the relationship between academic standards and the culturally diverse university.