This small-scale exploratory study uses face-to-face interviews to investigate the
academic success and student-advisor relationship of the international doctoral
students in a Nursing doctoral program in the United States. The most remarkable
finding is the observation of the cut-off point in the relationships among English
language proficiency, academic success, and student-advisor relationship. This study
finds that advisors’influence outweighs the importance of student’s language
proficiency. Future research should include longitudinal and multi-site studies to more
thoroughly assess the success of international doctoral students in nursing programs.