The overseas student: expatriate, sojourner or settler?

The Overseas Student can be regarded as a sojourner who lives temporarily in a foreign country and must achieve satisfactory academic objectives within a limited period of time. The "push" and "pull" factors which determine why students study overseas are described. Suggestions are made about the optimum training of mental health professionals and university welfare personnel to enable them to assist overseas students who are distressed. The similarities and differences between a student sojourner and an expatriate are described. There is a need for studies to establish the reasons why expatriates return before the completion of their work contract.