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ST. LOUIS — About 20 college students from the Bahamas have experienced Midwestern culture from pumpkin picking to a winter snowstorm while taking classes this year at the University of Missouri-ºüÀêÊÓƵ.

“UMSL Global is really good at helping you explore and keeping international students active,� said Celina Holmes, 22, a graduate student who is studying clinical mental health counseling.

The students are part of the Bahamian government’s Public School Scholars Programme, started in 2015 to boost college access by providing annual scholarships of $10,000 to $15,000 each year for up to four years.

Earlier this year, UMSL finalized an agreement with the country’s ministry of education to become one of 33 partner institutions in the U.S. and Canada that offer matching grants.

The agreement comes as international students are returning to U.S. colleges after a steep decline in recent years.

International student enrollment took a hit before the pandemic amid tightened immigration scrutiny under the Trump administration. Then COVID-19 caused the numbers of foreigners to plummet further under travel restrictions.

This fall, U.S. colleges and universities report a 7% increase in new international students, continuing an upward trend that started in the 2021-2022 school year, according to a from the New York-based nonprofit Institute of International Education.

The report’s findings “reflect the resilience of the U.S. higher education system� and its “commitment to international student mobility. … U.S. institutions also value the diverse perspectives and cultures international students bring to the classroom, enriching academic discussions and enhancing all students’ understanding of the world.�

The top three countries for students coming to Missouri to study this year are India, China and South Korea, mirroring national figures. There is at least one student from each of 177 countries among a total of 23,326 international students in the state, according to the .

Webster University, which has campuses in nine foreign countries, reports more than 350 new international students studying in Webster Groves this fall, doubling their pre-pandemic average. One in five undergraduates and graduate students at Washington University now come from outside the U.S.

Most international students in the U.S. come on an F-1 visa, which allows them to stay through graduation in an accredited program. The U.S. State Department issued nearly 358,000 student visas in 2021, more than tripling the amount issued in 2020 but still well below the high of 644,233 in 2015.

International students, who generally pay higher tuition and are less likely to need financial aid, contributed $32 billion to the U.S. economy in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Admissions directors are continuing to recruit outside of Asia, which sends the majority of international students to the U.S. This year, Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria had the largest increases in students coming to the U.S., according to the report.

The Caribbean islands are a new region for UMSL, which welcomed 360 international students this year from 61 countries, said , director of internationalization strategies and international student and scholar services.

“We’ve been working to grow our numbers and diversify,� Hylton said. “The international students are so valuable for the campus and the community, and in order for our domestic students to be good global citizens.�

At a recent party hosted by the university, students enjoyed the Bahamian pastry called guava duff and listened to Caribbean music. Kevvin Brown, who is studying for a master’s degree in finance at UMSL, said the Bahamian students fit right in on campus.

“The interesting part of this, a lot of people wouldn’t know we’re not from ºüÀêÊÓƵ,â€� said Brown, 22. “That’s what I like about UMSL.â€�