Survey on Foreign Students in the University of Santo Tomas

Bautista, Genecel Cua, KirstineFrancisco, MelrosePerdido, Bea2AD-2

Acknowledgement

The researchers would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who help them conduct and finish this research.First , to God who gave us the wisdom to choose wise decisions and strength to let the researchers finish the research.Second, to our parents who supported us with our course and never got tired to help us with our needs.Third, to our block-mates, and respondents who gave us their time to answer our survey and help us with our research.Fourth, to our statistics professor, Mr Crisencio Paner for guiding us for on research project.And last but not the least, to our alma mater for giving us the opportunity to conduct this research inside the University of Santo Tomas.

Chapter 1- IntroductionBackground of the StudyThe University of Santo Tomas is a catholic university that has been built for the empowerment of the Thomasian virtues since 1611, and has been considered the oldest existing university in Asia. According to the University's official website, the school has the largest population of catholic students in a single campus among other schools worldwide. Being one of the prestigious universities in the Philippines, and being considered as the university our Filipino heroes like Jose Rizal, Apolinario Mabini and Marcelo Del Pilar has attended, the University is sought out by both aspiring Filipino and Foreign students. The University has the reputation of having four hundred and four years of unending grace, and has developed students into successful professionals that uplifts the name of the university and the country. Yet, other than the fact that the university has contributed in the Philippine history, and holds its reputation as the largest catholic university, the reason is still vague on why foreign students chose the University of Santo Tomas as their Alma Matter.In retrospect, the population of foreign students is decreasing year after year, be it full blooded foreigners or half Filipinos. According to one of the news dated back in 2005 in the website of Varsitarian, the Universitys school paper, In 1997, UST recorded more than 500 enrolled foreign students, with Koreans and Indonesians making up the bulk. However, in the school year 2002-2003 and 2004-2005, the number decreased, wherein the students totaled from 218 up to 273, with Chinese having the most number of students, followed by Americans, then Koreans.Nevertheless, today, in the present school year of 2014-2015, variety of foreign faces has appeared, from hallways, to fast food chains inside the University, where more than a couple of foreign students can be seen interacting with other Filipino students. Curious looks sent their ways while others in wonder or in awe. Foreign students can be seen more than often with different characteristics on how they interact and present themselves as a student of the University. These are factors that made the researchers conduct a study of estimating the number of foreign students in the University and approach the disposition of the foreign students to the University. From the past years, foreign students have been entering the University. From Koreans to American, these students proved that their number is a valuable asset to the University, where their reputation for academic excellence is seen to be attracting even different races from across the globe, seeing as these foreign students chose the said institution rather than other prestigious schools.Statement of the Problem No matter how valuable the number is, the estimated number of full blooded foreigners for the present school year is unknown as well as the disposition of the foreign students to the University. Objectives: 1. To know the estimated number of foreign students in UST. 2. To know why they chose to study in UST. 3. To discover the dominating nationalities of foreign students in the University.4. To know the percentage for the dominating nationalities on different programs in the University. 5. To explore the organizations in UST that cater to the foreign students. Scope and LimitationsIn this study, the researchers will be gathering information from different programs of the university to know the estimated number of foreign students inside the institution and to discover the percentage of the dominating nationalities by conducting a survey to the students of the programs. However, not all of the programs of the university will be included for the gathering of information; only on selected programs like CFAD, CRS, AB, and programs that have a great number of foreign students will be included in the survey. The researches will also be conducting an interview on student organization leaders for foreign students and their members to strengthen and justify the reason on why foreign students choose the University of Santo Tomas when other prestigious school are open in the country. However, the interview will on be conducted on selected organizations, like COMACH, Scarlet, and UST International Students Association (UST-ISA). The interview on the organizations COMACH and Scarlet may not be conducted specifically on their central or mother organization. The interview may include the units or branches of the organization from the different programs of the University.

Chapter 3- MethodologyResearch DesignThe researchers conducted their study through surveys, with survey form that contains questionnaires to obtain their desired information from their chosen responders. The survey was a way to acquire raw and updated data regarding the profiles of the foreign students, wherein the information the researchers need directly came from the responders, which makes it more valuable. Interviews were also conducted to the student leaders that runs the organizations for foreign students. This type of procedure was administered in order to have more viable information that will strengthen the proof of the research data the researchers has acquired.Setting of the StudyThe main location of the studys setting is in the school grounds of the University of Santo Tomas. Surveys were administered to the different college departments like Albertus Magnus Building (EDUC/AB), Beato Angelico (CFAD), St. Martin De Porres Building (MED,CRS) , Fr. Roque Ruao, O.P. Building (ENG) and Tan Yan Kee Building (Central of Student Organizations). Subject of the StudyThe subject of this study are the foreign students that reside and study in UST. Students that are declared full blooded foreigners, and half Filipino-half Foreigners, who may or may not have been born in the Philippines are focus of this research, not only to determine the number of foreign students, but to also know the value of UST in their honest opinions.Procedure of the StudyThis all started when the researchers professor suggested the idea of knowing the profile of the foreign students in their own school. Researchers agreed on it for that topic is such an interesting and immersing. Thereupon, the researchers made it to the archives and study about the profile of the University first before anything else. These were first made because one of the researchers requirement is to know possible information related to it. They already made the parts of study one by one: by researching about the background of the study; finished their objectives; stating their problem; ponder what would be the significance of the study; then later on, they have examined its scope and limitations that may possible happen and still exploring on the next studies related to it. Sources of DataThe data will be gathered in University of Santo Tomas selected programs such as CFAD, CRS, AB, and programs that have a great number of foreign students. They will also gather some data in organizations such as COMACH, and University of Santo Tomas International Students Association (UST-ISA) for further review. Series of surveys will conducted for more than thirty respondents. And each of them will be having their own profile including the reason why they are studying in this institution. Whereas, it is still the respondents choice if they will share their reason for their personality matters.

Chapter 4- Results and DiscussionAfter collecting the raw data from Google survey, the results showed 64 responses, with 5 invalid data for it was incomplete, which totals to 59 valid responses. Responders were from different colleges and organizations, but only few has cooperated for the members of each organizations were not all active, as stated by the org officers. Most of the responders were Filipino-American, Korean and Chinese. The least are American, Israeli, Nigerian, and Indian having 1 respondent each nationality. It may have been stated that students from specific programs will be surveyed, yet, college programs that were not targeted (e.g. IPEA, Microbiology, Occupational Therapy, IICS, and Music) has also been surveyed with the help of the college organizations.Below are the collected sample data that are arranged in order to see the results objectively.

Stem-and-Leaf Diagram of the Respondents Age16 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 920 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 4 6

Frequency Distribution of Age of the Respondents

ClassTallyFrequencyRelative FrequencyPercentage

14-16II20.0343.4%

17-19IIIII-IIIII-IIIII-IIIII-IIIII-IIIII-IIIII-III380.64464.4%

20-22IIIII-IIIII-III130.2222%

23-25IIIII50.0858.5%

26-28I10.0171.7%

Sum59100.00%

Class Limit, Class Boundaries, Class Marks

ClassLimitBoundaryClass Mark

LowerUpperLowerUpper

14-16141613.516.415

17-19171916.519.418

20-22202219.522.421

23-25232522.525.424

26-28262825.528.427

The Cumulative Frequency Distribution

Class

14-162257+2=59

17-19382+38=4019+38=57

20-221340+13=536+13=19

23-25553+5=581+5=6

26-28158+1=591

The Areas of Sectors Occupied by each Class

ClassFrequencyRelative FrequencyPercentageSector occupied in the Pie Graph

14-1620.0343.4%1214

17-19380.64464.4%23150

20-22130.2222%7912

23-2550.0858.5%3036

26-2810.0171.7%67

Mean, Median, Mode of Grouped Data

ClassxLbxC(x-x)(x-x)2 (x-x)2

14-1621513.5302-4.2217.80835.616

17-19381816.568440-1.221.48856.544

20-22132119.5273531.783.16841.184

23-2552422.5120584.7822.848114.24

26-2812725.527597.7860.52860.528

= 59x= 1134(x-x)= 8.9(x-x)2 = 105.84(x-x)2 = 308.112

29

x= = =19.22

x=Lb+ ( ) c =19.5+ (3 =19.5+ (3 =19.5+ (3 =19.5+ (-0.808) 3 =19.5-2.424=17.08

x=Lmo+ ( ) c=16.5+ (3 =16.5+ (3=16.5+ (3=16.5+ (3=16.5+1.77=18.27

S2 ====5.312

S=s2=5.312=2.3A. Distribution of Respondents by Demographic Profile1. By AgeTable A.1 Distribution of Respondents According to their Age

AgeFrequencyPercentage

1623.4%

171220.3%

181627.1%

191017%

20711.9%

2158.5%

2211.7%

2346.7%

2411.7%

2611.7%

TOTAL59100%

Graph A.1 Distribution of Respondents According to their Age In this table, results show that most of the responders are at the age of 18.

2. By GenderTable A.2 Distribution of Respondents According to their Gender

GenderFrequencyPercentage

Male1728.8%

Female4271.2%

TOTAL59100%

Graph A.2 Distribution of Respondents According to their Gender Results show that most of the foreign students who took the survey are females.

3. By ReligionTable A.3 Distribution of Respondents According to their Religion

ReligionFrequencyPercentage

Catholic2237.3%

Roman Catholic1322%

Christian Catholic11.7%

Born Again Christian46.7%

Jewish11.7%

Agnostic11.7%

Islam35.1%

Christian610.2%

Buddhism35.1%

Protestant23.4%

Hindu11.7%

Catholic Buddhism11.7%

None11.7%

TOTAL59100%

Graph A.3 Distribution of Respondents According to their Religion The table shows that the common religion of the foreign students who took the survey are Catholics, followed by Christian and Buddhism.

4. By NationalityTable A.4 Distribution of Respondents According to their Nationality

NationalityFrequencyPercentage

Filipino-American915.3%

American46.7%

Nigeria11.7%

Filipino3559.3%

Israeli11.7%

Korean58.5%

Indian11.7%

Chinese23.4%

Chinese-Filipino11.7%

TOTAL59100%

Graph A.4 Distribution of Respondents According to their Nationality The most common nationality of Foreign students are Fiipino-American. But majority of the respondents are Filipinos who studied in abroad for a long time before settling down in UST.5. By College or FacultyTable A.5 Distribution of Respondents According to their College or Faculty

College or FacultyFrequencyPercentage

Institute of Physical Education Athletics (IPEA)11.7%

College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS)915.3%

Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB)35.1%

Faculty of Pharmacy (Pharma)58.5%

Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (Medicine)11.7%

Faculty of Philosophy (Philo)11.7%

College of Nursing (Nursing)35.1%

College of Commerce and Business Administration (CBA)813.6%

College of Science (Science)610.2%

College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD)1118.6%

College of Education (Educ)23.4%

College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (CTHM)11.7%

AMV College of Accountancy (AMV-COA)35.1%

Conservatory of Music (Music)11.7%

College of Architecture (Arki)11.7%

College of Engineering (Engineering)35.1%

TOTAL59100%

Graph A.5 Distribution of Respondents According to their College or Faculty The majority of the responders came from the College of Fine Arts and Design, followed by College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS), College of Commerce and Business Administration (CBA), College of Science (Science), Faculty of Pharmacy (Pharma), Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) and College of Nursing (Nursing). Other colleges have a single respondent.6. By ProgramTable A.6 Distribution of Respondents According to their Program

ProgramFrequencyPercentage

IPEA11.7%

Occupational Therapy (OT)46.7%

Nursing35.1%

Philosophy23.4%

Pharmacy35.1%

Medicine11.7%

Sports Science11.7%

Physical Therapy (PT)46.7%

Financial Management23.4%

Microbiology35.1%

Advertising711.9%

Psychology23.4%

Entrepreneurship35.1%

Business Economics11.7%

Food Technology11.7%

Medical Technology (MedTech)23.4%

History11.7%

Computer Science (ComSci)11.7%

Asian Studies11.7%

Marketing Management11.7%

Tourism11.7%

Accounting23.4%

Nutrition and Dietetics11.7%

Musical Theatre11.7%

Architecture11.7%

Interior Design11.7%

Industrial Design23.4%

Actuarial Science11.7%

Managerial Accounting11.7%

Electronics Engineering23.4%

Human Resource Development Management (HRDM)11.7%

Painting11.7%

TOTAL59100%

B. Distribution by the Response of the Respondents1. Where do you stay in the Philippines?Table B.1 Distribution of Respondents According to Where They are Stay Here in the Philippines

FrequencyPercentage

Dormitory1118.6%

Condominium1830.5%

Staying with Relatives1423.7%

Apartment35.1%

Other1322%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.1 Distribution of Respondents According to Where They are Stay Here in the Philippines Most of the respondents live in a condominium or a dormitory, showing that they are not with their family.

Table B.1.1 Specifying the Answers in Other

FrequencyPercentage

House753.8%

Seminary17.7%

Parents323.1%

Grandparents17.7%

Condo na dorm17.7%

TOTAL13100%

Graph B.1.1 Specifying Other Most of the respondents who answered other live in their own house.

2. Is your family staying here in the Philippines?Table B.2 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Is your family staying here in the Philippines?

FrequencyPercentage

Yes4271.2%

No1728.8%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.2 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Is your family staying here in the Philippines? In this table, it showed that 71.2% of the responders answered Yes, while 28.8% responded No.

3. Are you an exchange student?Table B.3 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Are you an exchange student?

FrequencyPercentage

Yes11.7%

No5898.3%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.3 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Are you an exchange student? Results showed that only 1 responded answered No.

4. Has the University satisfied your social and academic needs as a student?Table B.4 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Has the University satisfied your social and academic needs as a student?

FrequencyPercentage

Yes4474.6%

No1525.4%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.4 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Has the University satisfied your social and academic needs as a student? Majority of the respondents answered Yes (44 respondents) while others (15 respondents) said No.

5. Have you thought of studying in other universities?Table B.5 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Have you thought of studying in other university?

FrequencyPercentage

Yes3966.1%

No2033.9%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.5 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Have you thought of studying in other university? Majority of the respondents answered Yes (39 respondents) while others (20 respondents) said No.

6. Are you enjoying the program that you have selected?Table B.6 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Are you enjoying the program that you have selected?

FrequencyPercentage

Yes4678%

No1322%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.6 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Are you enjoying the program that you have selected? Majority of the respondents answered Yes (46 respondents) while others (13 respondents) said No.

7. What was you General Weighted Average or GWA last semester?Table B.7 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, What was you General Weighted Average or GWA last semester?

General Weighted AverageFrequencyPercentage

1.0-1.4923.4%

1.5-1.991932.2%

2.0-2.492847.5%

2.5-2.991016.9%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.7 Distribution of Respondents According to their General Weighted Average Most of the respondents got the grade of 2.0-2.49 in their General Weighted Average last semester.

8. On the listed organizations below, which ones do you belong to?Table B.8 Distribution of Respondents According to the Organizations They Belong to from the Choices Given to Them

ChoicesFrequencyPercentage

Scarlet1219%

UST International Students Association (UST-ISA)2133.3%

Community Achievers (COMACH)69.5%

None of the above2438.1%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.8 Distribution of Respondents According to the Organizations They Belong to from the Choices Given to Them Majority of the respondents do not have an organization, having 24 respondents on that category, followed by ACTIVE respondents in UST International Students Association (UST-ISA), Scarlet, and Community Achievers (COMACH).

9. Are both of your parents Filipino?Table B.9 Distribution of Respondents According to their Response to the Question, Are both of your parents Filipino?

FrequencyPercentage

Yes3457.6%

No2542.4%

TOTAL59100%

Graph B.9 Distribution According to their Response to the Question, Are both your parents Filipino? Most of the respondents parents are both Filipino.

If not, please indicate their Nationalities:Table B.9.1 Indication of the Nationality of the Parents of those who Answered No

NationalityFrequencyPercentage

British/American/Spanish14.2%

Nigerians14.2%

Filipino-Israeli14.2%

Haitian14.2%

Indian28.3%

Japanese14.2%

Chinese625%

Chinese-Filipino28.3%

Pakistani14.2%

Korean416.7%

Taiwanese14.2%

British-Filipino14.2%

Filipino-Indian14.2%

Filipino-Korean14.2%

TOTAL24100%

Graph B.9.1 Nationality of the Parents of those whose Parents are both not Filipino For those who answered no, the majority of their nationality is Chinese.

C. Rating ScaleTable B.9.2 Disposition of Foreign students in UST

Strongly Disagree (1)Disagree (2)Neutral (3)Agree (4)Strongly Agree (5)Rating AverageResponse Count

Hospitable6.78%(4)-27.12% (16)42.37% (25)23.73% (14)3.7659

Respectful6.78%(4)6.78%(4)22.03% (13)54.24% (32)10.17% (6)3.5459

Strong Family Ties and Religious6.78%(4)-6.78% (4)50.85% (30)35.59% (21)4.0859

Generous and Helpful5.08%(3)1.69%(1)20.34% (12)57.63% (34)15.25% (9)3.8059

Hardworking6.78%(4)6.78%(4)22.03% (13)40.68% (24)23.73% (14)3.6859

Loving and Caring8.47%(5)1.69%(1)11.86% (7)57.63% (34)20.34% (12)3.8059

Chapter 5- Conclusion and RecommendationConclusionAt the end of the study, the researchers have concluded that: The foreign students chose UST as their university because of the influence of their Filipino Parents/ Relatives and the indluence of their Religion which is Catholic. The dominating Nationalities of the foreign students are Filipino-American, followed by Koreans, then followed by Americans The majority of the responders came from the College of Fine Arts and Design, followed by College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS), College of Commerce and Business Administration (CBA), College of Science (Science), Faculty of Pharmacy (Pharma), Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) and College of Nursing (Nursing). In which the most dominating nationalities in these colleges are Filipino-American (15.3%) followed by Koreans (8.5%) followed by Americans (6.7%) We also conclude that UST-ISA (UST International Students Association ) caters to almost any foreign student in UST, unlike Scarlet and COMACH, which mostly cater to Koreans and Chinese. Even though only few participated on the survey, the population of foreigners in University of Santo Tomas (UST) is still growing. UST have its hands open wide and still doing its best for the enrollment of the incoming and current foreign students. In terms of population, Filipinos who studied in abroad for a long time before settling down in UST are the major respondents, next is the Filipino-American students who got the second rating in terms of population, next are Korean and Chinese. The College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD) has the major number of foreign students acquired, next is the College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS), and the third one is College of Commerce and Business Administration (CBA). With the growing community of foreign students in UST, there are now organizations that caters them such as, COMACH, Scarlet, University of Santo Tomas International Students Association (UST-ISA), and others. These help the foreign students in coping up with their university life. Though, some foreigners have thought about enrolling in a different university, the foreign students are still satisfied with their life as a Thomasian. Even though the research is not successful as it may seem, it can still be improved by having recommendations given by the researchers. These recommendations can help in improving the research for future use.

RecommendationThe researchers do their very best in making their research as flawless as they wanted it to be. But, their research is still far from being perfect. Because of that, they wanted to point out their boundaries. Here are their limitations: They came up with a very small number of respondents. It is believed that the more respondents a research can get, the more credible it can be. Only fifty-nine (59) valid respondents made effort to answer the survey, it is far from their expectation of having a hundred respondents. They should interview more foreigners for better accuracy.Because of their limitations above, the researchers wanted to deliver the following recommendations to improve their boundaries for future research. The future researchers should gather more time and resources to achieve their desired number of respondents. Interact more with other people for more connections. Interview more foreigners to get to know their culture, their beliefs, and their reasons why they choose UST as their school. If possible, get to know all of the colleges available in UST and gather the foreigners studying there. Always remember that the more number of respondents a researcher can accumulate, the more accurate research they can get.