International graduate students are on the rise while the undergraduate international student body decreased (IEE, 2022b). International students bring diverse cultures and financial benefits to higher educational institutions in the U.S. International graduate students need more support in language and culture, especially for their disciplinary fields and graduate program expectations. Graduate students who enter U.S. educational institutions through language programs (pathway language programs) were never the center of the research in part because there were previously held assumptions that international graduate students should already be language proficient (Wu et al., 2015). Pathway language programs seem to support academic language skills and academic transitions but there were mixed results (Benzie, 2015, Elturk et al., 2019; Veigen & Russell, 2019). Direct-entry international graduate students may also struggle for their language and cultural needs in their transition experiences. This study used a single case with a two embedded unit design (Yin, 2018) to understand the international graduate students' transition experiences for both pathway language programs and degree programs. Faculty voices from both programs are also included for international graduate students' academic transition experiences. Documents from orientation, curricula, and websites were collected and analyzed. This dissertation study found that graduate international students from pathway language program were better prepared with the academic skills and support service knowledge than their direct entry peers. Direct entry students also need support in American academic language and culture. Faculty from both programs used supplementary materials, multiple assessments, and students' feedback in their instructional design. There is a need to provide more academic and cultural seminars or workshops to prepare graduate international students for their academic success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]