Investigating the Factors Influencing International Students’ Satisfaction in Foundation Course and their success in academic Courses: A case of IUT

Abstract

Foundation programs are considered as essential preparatory stage in higher education, especially for international students who come from a different country and required to adapt to new academic, linguistic, and cultural environments. Before enrolling to the main academic stream, preparatory programs, such as Foundation Program plays a vital role to be succeed in their academic programs. This study investigated the factors influencing international students’ satisfaction with the Foundation Program at the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in Bangladesh and also explored the relationship between foundation performance and subsequent academic achievement. The research was guided by two hypotheses: that course content, instructional quality, and academic support significantly predict student satisfaction, and that foundation course results positively corelate to performance in later academic programs. A quantitative research design was employed, drawing on survey responses from 104 international students who had completed the Foundation Program and progressed into undergraduate studies. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, regression, and t-tests. Results showed that all measurement scales demonstrated acceptable reliability (Cronbach’s α between .76 and .80). Correlation analysis revealed that student satisfaction was strongly related to course content (r = .63), instructional quality (r = .67), and academic support (r = .76). However, regression results indicated that only instructional quality (β = .28, p < .01) and academic support (β = .54, p < .001) were significant predictors of satisfaction, while course content was not. Together, these variables explained 63.3% of the variance in satisfaction. In addition, foundation course marks were positively correlated with cumulative GPA (r = .416, p < .01), accounting for 17.3% of the variance in later academic performance. Gender differences were not significant. The findings highlight the importance of strong instructional practices and robust academic support systems in shaping international student satisfaction. They also confirm the preparatory value of foundation programs by linking early achievement with later success. The study offers practical recommendations for program improvement and contributes to the broader literature on international student experiences in foundation education.