A SOCİOLOGİCAL STUDY ON FOREİGN STUDENTS STUDYİNG AT THE SİVAS CUMHURİYET (REPUBLİC) UNİVERSİTY

Educational tourism is a type of tourism that occurs when people go to a certain region or country to improve themselves in a certain field, learn something and make a career. Educational tourism in its current dimension; It includes educational activities such as practical training, theoretical training, congresses and seminars, student and faculty exchange (ERASMUS - FARABİ, etc.). For those who have the means, the search for a good education is a painful process that continues from the first steps of education to the last steps. Students are looking for the school and department that will benefit them the most, especially in their higher education. During this period, many students prioritize studying abroad among their goals. When it comes to education abroad, the most popular places for young people in Turkey are generally America and European countries. American and European countries attract foreign students from all over the world to their countries with their success in education and the opportunities they offer. With this attraction, educational tourism has become an important sector in these countries and has made significant contributions to their economies.Turkey also contributes to the education of foreign students, most of whom come from Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, with many opportunities (scholarships, accommodation, quotas without exams for some students in special situations, etc.). This is an area that can have a significant impact on the development of countries if it is evaluated well and efforts are made to increase the number and quality of incoming students. Today, when globalization is rapidly increasing, internationalization in the field of education has also gained an important dimension. Turkey also accepts students from different cultures, mostly from Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and supports their education with the opportunities it provides (scholarships, accommodation, quotas without exams for some students in special situations, etc.); It enriches both academically and socially. In this context, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, one of Turkey's well-established educational institutions, encourages cultural diversity and academic interaction by hosting foreign students. The aim of this study is to examine the sociological profiles of foreign students studying at Sivas Cumhuriyet University and to evaluate the difficulties they face and their adaptation processes. The adaptation processes of foreign students to their educational lives and social environments can have important consequences at both individual and social levels. Therefore, in this study, the experiences, expectations and problems faced by foreign students are discussed in detail. In the study, the demographic characteristics and educational backgrounds of foreign students were examined, and their adaptation processes to university life and the environment in which they lived and the difficulties they encountered were emphasized.