International student enrollment is down at many colleges and universities in the United States this fall and Missouri is no exception.
The trend might not come as a surprise after the Trump Administration’s pursuit to revoke the visas of international students. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department has revoked visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel’s war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges.
How deep are the international student enrollment declines in the Show Me State? Missourinet contacted public universities in each region of the state to get a snapshot and compare these enrollment figures to their fall semester of 2024.
At Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, international student enrollment declined by 63%.
The University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg has an additional 14% undergraduate and about 62% fewer graduate students from other countries.
For the University of Missouri System, it has 530 fewer international students among its four campuses in Columbia, Rolla, Kansas City, and St. Louis.
In Maryville, Northwest Missouri State University’s international student population has fallen by 432.
As for Truman State University in northeast Missouri’s Kirksville, its figures remain virtually unchanged.
Dawn Medley, the Vice President of Enrollment Management at Missouri State University in Springfield, said the university is dealing with a 30% to 40% drop in its international student population.
“We’re facing some of the same challenges as far as recruiting students from international countries and bringing them to our campus,” Medley told Missourinet. “Historically that has not been a problem for us but this year it has been.”
She said the drop in international student enrollment is affecting the university’s bottom line.
“International students come to the U.S. and they bring a large amount of economic investment into education,” said Medley. “And so, as an institution who sees the declining enrollment, it does affect our bottom line and the revenue that we generate. But I think more importantly and especially from Missouri State, as we try to live our public affairs, vision, and mission for the state, it decreases the diversity of opinion and experience on our campus.”
Medley said international students bring the world to Missouri.
“And we’ve always prided ourselves on that,” she said. “And so, having the decrease in the overall international population really decreases the student experience for all students and for their appreciation.”
What is Missouri State doing to make up the difference?
“For international students, I think that we are looking to pivot from some of the countries and regions where we have recruited historically,” said Medley. “We want to make sure that we are looking in areas that students still want to come to the U.S. and still have the ability to obtain and complete the paperwork necessary to be here.”
Another focus in the university’s strategic plan is growing to 30,000 students by 2030. Currently, Missouri State’s student population is around 24,000.
“We have to look at the variety of student markets, so not just the traditional first- year students, but how are we serving our transfer students? How are we serving veterans? How are we engaging with Missouri’s workforce? There’s 600,000 students or adults in the state of Missouri who have some college and their degree.”
Missouri State is also reviewing graduate and PhD-level programs. A new state law allows other universities around Missouri to offer doctoral degree programs and certain professional degrees previously restricted to the University of Missouri system.
Medley praised Missouri’s state government leaders.
“There’s probably been more interest in what I do in my profession in the last two years than ever before, and really in the last 6 to 9 months. And so, folks are understanding now the implications of those federal policies and how they’re impacting higher education. We have been supported always by state government,” said Medley.
She cited more than $200 million in infrastructure improvement projects currently underway on campus.
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