INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

International students make return

Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic paused foreign travel, the number of international students is steadily rising among U.S. colleges and universities.

The out-of-country student population increased by four percent in the 2021-22 academic year, according to an “Open Doors” report from the Institute for International Education.

That trend is also evident at LaGrange College. This year, 12 international students enrolled from countries that include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Japan, Northern Ireland, Panama, South Africa and Spain.

“I decided to come to LC to pursue my dream of playing college basketball as well as find who I could be outside of basketball,” said Kamayi “Jay” Muvumba ’25, who moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2021. “I came to find where I should be in life after college.”

Women's Basketball player Maria Riera Soriano ’24, who left Spain after her father received an offer to work in the U.S. in 2017, said she wanted to come to LaGrange College to study international business.

“At LC, I am building the skills and qualities I need to learn for a future career in the business sector,” she said. “My post-graduate plans are to go back to Spain, and if an opportunity occurs for me to work there or any European country, I will take it and put into place those skills I learned at LC.”