A Survey of Important Factors Affecting the Degree Duration of Iranian Ph.D. Students in Beritania

Scholarship systems in almost all countries have supported postgraduate students to continue their studies abroad because of its importance in expanding knowledge and skills. In order to obtaining the objectives of scholarship, assessment of the granted student's problems is extremely essential. In this study, all of Iranian students in Britain who awarded a scholarship from Iran were questioned. They were asked about the importance of the influencing factors in the duration of their Ph.D. courses.Our results showed that the limitation in English skills, the incompetence of supervisors and insufficient wages were the most influencing factors. In addition, 57% expressed that the economical pressure was considerable in their daily life. We suggest that the scholarship system should support students to improve their English before leaving Iran. In addition, students are usually accepting the first offer without exploring the capability of their supervisors; hence the scholarship system should encourage students to pay more attentions to this essential factor. Moreover, the scholarship system should support students financially during their courses sufficiently to allow them to study calmly.