Studying and living in a foreign country is/are challenging for the students.
Is or Are?
Answer
In OP's case, most native speakers would opt for the singular verb form, because the two gerund nouns studying and living are probably effectively being thought of as two aspects of one complete lifestyle.
Careful washing and drying is more likely to be referenced using a singular than a plural verb form.
Also note that when two gerunds are "conflated" in this way, we tend to specify the more "important" one first, so living and studying is more common than studying and living (it's difficult to imagine how you could study abroad without actually living abroad).
This isn't to say the plural verb form would be "incorrect" in OP's context - it's just not so likely.
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