The desire of higher-ed leadership to internationalize programs to attract foreign students may not align with the perspectives of educators in the classroom. In the elementary and secondary school settings, a teacher's perspective can impact culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student achievement. However, the current literature does not focus on the perspectives of graduate-level university professors as they instruct Non-Native English-speaking students from overseas. The purpose of this quantitative study is to measure university professors' Second Language Acquisition (SLA) knowledge and measure where professors fall on a numerical spectrum between an asset and deficit perspective regarding non-native English-speaking (NNES) students from abroad and determine the correlation between the two factors. Using the purposive sampling method, participants were selected by reaching out to professors in the Seattle and Puget Sound areas who have experience in teaching NNES students. A Likert-type scale survey with two sections was administered, one section to learn the level of SLA knowledge and the second to learn where instructors fall on the spectrum between asset and deficit perspective. Several descriptive statistics were used to measure SLA knowledge and perspective such as the mean, Standard deviation, range, and skew. Once the sample of 77 instructors was surveyed, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between SLA knowledge and asset perspective. The SLA knowledge and Perspective study can highlight a way for institutions in higher education to improve the learning experiences of international students whose first language is not English. The SLA knowledge. and perspectives study is exploratory in nature and recommendations for future study can include the efficacy of SLA training programs for a professor. [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://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]