International student enrollment at MU climbed 13 percent this fall.
These students come from more than 100 different countries. This fall brought an increase of these students, with 81 freshmen or first-time college attendees and an overall total of 1,846 non-resident international students.
International Center Director James Scott said he has never seen such an increase since his employment in 2006, especially with the freshman class.
Last year, MU had 54 first-time international college students and only 1,625 international students total. This year saw a 13.6 percent increase in the total number of international students and a 50 percent increase in the freshmen class alone.
MU’s international tuition is the same as paying out-of-state tuition. International students said they come to MU because of the wide range of majors.
“MU is a great university,” Scott said. “Our colleges, such as the College of Engineering, have developed great relationships with universities in several countries. Students from these countries are starting to transfer to MU to complete their degrees.”
The International Center also works with embassies from several countries to invite students that win scholarships from private organizations, scholarship sponsors such as Fulbright Scholars, foundations and the government.
With all the publicity, Scott said, MU has become well-known around the world.
“(College-age student population is) growing very rapidly around the world — especially in countries with developing economies,” he said. “This growth is happening faster than universities can build capacity. Those students who can, want to gain a degree from the United States. We have the best higher education in the world.”
The departments are building reputations around the world rigorously, and it is bringing students who want to learn and practice their English at a stellar rate.
Freshman Robin Park came to MU from China for its journalism program.
“I was deciding between Mizzou and Northwestern, and Mizzou was just so much cheaper,” Park said. “I also heard great things about the journalism school.”
She said she decided to attend college in the U.S. to become more fluent in English.
“More and more students in my school really want to study in the States to improve English,” she said. “In the past, nobody in Korea could speak English. I don’t know where this will take me, but if I can get a good job opportunity in the States, I would stay here.”
Columbia’s Midwestern feel draws many international students, as its central location is in, as Scott would say, “America’s heartland.”
Trang Duong, a finance major from Vietnam, said she was able to use the Vietnamese Student Association to get in contact with friends and other administration to find more out about American culture.
“The University of Missouri takes care of international students,” Duong said.