International students still flock to Northwest College
POWELL — This semester, Northwest College has bucked the trend of declining international student enrollment.
After setting a school record with 104 international students last year, there were concerns that travel and visa restrictions and the overall political climate would stifle enrollment this year.
Nationally it has, with international enrollment to the U.S. down 20%-30%, said Amanda Enriquez, International Student and Scholar Services manager at NWC.
That trend has not come to fruition in Powell, however.
President Lisa Watson said the enrollment of 100 international students this fall is a testament to the international studies team, which met with all international students last fall to prepare for potential travel home over the summer and then held Zoom calls with each incoming international student about how to prepare to come into the country.
Enriquez said the college does the best it can with all of the changes still ongoing.
“Once the dust settles, our team is ready to then see where the dust particles land, and how we can put them back together and keep moving, because I still believe that the United States is a very viable contender for higher education,” she said. “Wyoming is a special place, and so is Northwest College. And I continue to believe we have something to offer that no one else does.”
NWC has even managed to deal with at least some of the issues of one of its top pipeline countries, Turkmenistan, which was put on a list by the federal government that makes it more challenging for Turkmen citizens to get a visa to study, or even come to, the U.S.
While Turkmenistan is not one of the top three countries for international students at the college this year — that would be Japan, the United Kingdom and Honduras — the newest employee in the international department is a former student from Turkmenistan, who, along with a current Turkmen student dressed in traditional garb, handed out traditional fried dough bites known as pishme to attendees at the Oct. 13 meeting.
It’s a food traditionally served for special events, and Watson made a note of just how special NWC continues to be amongst community colleges in the region.
A Turkmen delegation will be making the rounds of some colleges in Wyoming and Montana later this month to discuss educational opportunities for its students, and NWC is the only community college on the list.
The college also remains the top community college in the state for international enrollment. Watson said that success is due to the team in place, carrying on the work started by former French professor Harriet Bloom-Wilson, who had a dream to turn NWC into a haven for international students.
“And you can see as you look at our numbers from last year, we were able to communicate clearly and effectively with those students and their families so that they felt that there was an option, that they could come and feel safe being here,” Watson said. “We are Wyoming. We are different. We have an amazing experience for international students, but we also have an amazing experience for American students to learn about different countries and different experiences. I’ve had so many students make a comment to me about how much they enjoy the international aspect of the college, because it’s like nothing they’re gonna see otherwise. And I believe that’s true.”
This story was published on Oct. 16, 2025.