The Influence of a Peer‐Pairing Program on International Students' First Year Experience and Use of Student Services

ABSTRACT Newly‐arrived first year undergraduate international students were paired with host national students who had received brief training in intercultural communication and information on campus services. The hosts were asked to keep a twice‐monthly contact with their students during first year. At the end of the year, all first year international students were surveyed and the responses of 41 students who had been in the peer‐pairing program were compared with a matched sample of those who had not participated. The academic results of a smaller sample of participants were compared with a group of non‐participants matched precisely for course of enrolment. The results support a view that structured contact between host and international students can have beneficial effects on international students' experience. Participants were more likely than non‐participants to choose positive descriptors of their year, to have used campus services and to report gains in language fluency. There were no significant differences in academic performance between the groups.