KOREASCHOLAR

Financial well-being is a critical problem in consumer-finance research (Shim et al., 2009). Many consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about their financial well-being (O'Neill et al., 2005). Although there are many financial policies associated with consumers (Kozup & Hogarth, 2008), consumers still have difficulty with financial well-being (Short, 2005). This research is a vital topic to enable financial-policy researchers to understand consumers' financial well-being. For this proposed study, it is necessary to choose a group of consumers who understand financial well-being. While many groups would fit this scope, we chose international students. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce (2016), the number of international students pursuing U.S. college degrees has grown each year for the past ten years. This increase in the number of international students has an economic effect. According to the NAFSA report (2014), international students contributed $26.8 billion to the U.S. economy. International students also supported over 340,000 U.S. jobs. However, the actual condition of these international students is not well known. Some earlier studies have pointed to difficulties in studying and living because of differences in culture and language (Wang, 2004). However, research on financial problems due to cultural differences among international students is scarce. The study of these financial aspects of international students is an important economic, educational, and policy issue. However, many studies are biased toward quantitative research questionnaires for international students, which limits the attempt to interpret the data in the conventional knowledge framework (Pyvis, & Chapman, 2005). There is a lack of qualitative research to uncover the actual financial reality from the insiders' perspectives. Therefore, this qualitative research understands the diverse financial experiences and difficulties of international students through grounded theory, which a qualitative research method. This qualitative research, (1) seeks to understand what elements should be necessary for the financial well-being of international students, which will (2) allow international students to consider consumer financial support policies that will help them, and (3) help to understand the relationship between financial culture and financial well-being in the era of globalization.

• Heejung Park(Northern Michigan University, United States)
• Matthew Lunde(Ithaca College, United States)