The Peculiarities of Geography: Africa

Abstract

The number of African students in the United States is increasing rapidly as the need for trained manpower compels newly independent African nations to send their young people to other countries for higher education. There is also need for correlation between the studies taken overseas and the requirements for economic development in a given coun try. African students coming here are apt to be somewhat older and more politically conscious than their American coun terparts. More of them choose the social sciences, with eco nomics leading, than any other major field of study. The physical and natural sciences, the humanities, and engineering follow in order. Racial discrimination in the United States is a serious problem affecting the African student personally and often influencing his evaluation of American life. Careful and sympathetic counseling, together with an orientation pe riod in the summer before college entrance, will tend to reduce the negative aspects of adjustment and increase the likelihood of useful assimilation and a generally beneficial experience for African students.