NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s International Student Resource Center hosted a reception for new and returning international students Friday.

“In total, this Fall we will have about 135 international students on campus, 122 degree-seeking and the rest exchange students from partner universities and the International Student Exchange Program,” said Dr. Telba Espinoza-Contreras, director of the ISRC and Study Abroad.

This fall, NSU welcomes 60 new international students from Japan, France, Mexico, Colombia, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Nigeria, Vietnam, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Austria, South Africa, Argentina, UK, Germany, Canada, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Bahamas, Serbia, Denmark, Dominican Republic and Ghana.  This list does not include permanent residents of the U.S. who were born abroad.

“We will have representation from the list of countries above, as well as continuing students from the British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Haiti, Belize, Poland, Israel, Finland, Greece, Czech Republic, Korea, Australia, Georgia and the Philippines,” Espinoza-Contreras said.

“This is the largest and most diverse group of international students we’ve ever had studying at Northwestern,” said NSU President Dr. Marcus Jones, who has been active in recruiting international students and forging partnerships with other institutions around the world to encourage study abroad experiences.

Information on the International Student Resource Center and Study Abroad at NSU is available at https://www.nsula.edu/international/.