Abstract

Chile is one of the Latin American countries that has experienced a significant rise of migrant students in its student body (Vasquez-De Kartzow, Castillo-Duran and Lera, 2015)..e recent implementation of a migrant student policy approved by the Chilean Ministry of Education (MINEDUC, 2018) reveals an incipient terrain in which it is interesting to analyze the academic adaptation processes of foreign postgraduate students from a state university in the South of Chile. A qualitative case study was executed whereby seven foreign students and three of their postgraduate lecturers were interviewed..e results reveal pedagogical and external factors which, imbedded by culture, have a positive or negative influence on learning. Yet, despite idiomatic similarities, migrant students face many linguistic and relational barriers through which they may experience assimilation or cultural isolation. Strengthening institutional practices is the main recommendation for greater inclusion.