Abstract
This thesis has been written as part of the M.Phil. programme in Comparative and International Education at the University of Oslo. Its purpose is to explore the motivations that led students at the University of Oslo (UiO) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) from Brazil, Russia, India and China to study in Norway, and what challenges they have faced here. The study has been conducted through a quantitative questionnaire and semi-structured qualitative interviews. The frameworks used have been a push-pull framework for motivations, and a framework based on five different challenge areas for challenges. It concludes that students are for the most part pushed out of their country by intrinsic reasons, but are attracted to Norway due to extrinsic reasons, such as financial motivations, existing social ties, or relevant study programmes. Students face challenges in particular when it comes to language barriers and making friends with Norwegians.