More than 100 international students arrive at Notre Dame each August for their first year of college. Some have never visited campus — or the United States — before they enroll, and acclimating to student life takes time.
They have new customs to absorb, a foreign higher education system to decipher and, for many, an unfamiliar sport — football — to understand. For some, it’s their first time speaking English as their primary daily language.
Four years later, they graduate with Notre Dame degrees. Many of these alumni become informal University ambassadors, joining Notre Dame alumni clubs in their home countries and encouraging others to apply to their alma mater.
The number of such students is expected to grow.
Father Robert A. Dowd, CSC, ’87, the University’s president, announced in September that Notre Dame would expand its affordability and accessibility efforts through the Pathways to Notre Dame program — becoming need-blind for all international undergraduate students, extending to that cohort a policy created for domestic students more than two decades ago. Further, financial aid awards will be “no loan,” meaning they will fully meet, through grants and scholarships, all undergraduates’ demonstrated financial needs according to federal and independent determinations.
“We want an undergraduate student body that reflects the rich diversity of the Catholic community in and beyond the United States, which requires that a Notre Dame education be both accessible and affordable,” Dowd said in his September 13 inaugural address.
In 2023, Notre Dame achieved a longtime aim of being admitted to the Association of American Universities, a consortium of the nation’s leading public and private research universities. Notre Dame is the only explicitly religious institution in the group.
The school’s leadership has set a goal of making Notre Dame the leading global Catholic research university, on par with but distinct from other top private universities. Another major goal is maintaining Notre Dame’s Catholic character at a time when the Church’s vitality is primarily in the Global South — a majority of the world’s more than 1.3 billion Catholics today live in South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Both these aspirations were articulated in the University’s “strategic framework” adopted in 2023.
The Pathways program is intended to boost Notre Dame academically and place it more in line with its peer AAU private universities. The strategic framework states that one way to build a more global, Catholic and diverse Notre Dame is to look overseas. Among AAU private universities, the average percentage of international undergraduates is 12.2, while Notre Dame’s is 7.
In 1850, Notre Dame’s first international student — from Mexico — arrived on campus. In fall 2024, international undergrads numbered 664. The nations contributing the largest numbers are China, Brazil, Canada, India and the Republic of Ireland.
To recruit these students, Notre Dame reaches out to top private and Catholic high schools all over the world. Admissions counselors visit other countries and meet with prospective and admitted students. Alumni clubs abroad also spread the word about the University’s mission and offerings.
“Our alumni are really keen to see more people from their countries . . . be represented in our student body. They are extremely supportive, in terms of connecting interested students with our office,” says Mary de Villiers, the University’s director of international enrollment.
Even before these admitted students come to campus, the University’s International Student and Scholar Affairs (ISSA) office reaches out — making sure visas are in order, providing video welcome sessions and connecting them with current students. Upon arrival, the newcomers participate in an international student orientation to acclimate them to campus life and American customs and traditions.
For international undergrads, attending Notre Dame is a transformative experience — and it can be challenging, says Leah Zimmer, ISSA’s executive director. “There’s something very powerful about building community when you are 18, 19 or 20 with people whose perspectives and experiences are very different,” she says.
“These students are choosing to come here because someone told them a story about Notre Dame. It was a story that probably alumni are very familiar with,” Zimmer adds. Forging community and connections is an experience all alumni will remember.
University leaders expect that a more internationally diverse student body will benefit future alumni with a broader understanding of other nations and cultures as they launch into the world. “While Notre Dame’s mission is constant, and not subject to fad or fashion,” Dowd said, “the work we do must change if Notre Dame is to meet the needs of our time.”
Henrique Oliveira
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Henrique Oliveira knew in high school that he wanted to attend college in the United States, although few graduates from his high school did so. He says U.S. colleges offer students more opportunities — from academics and research to mentorship and resources for starting a career.
A Catholic, the sophomore finance major was drawn to Notre Dame’s faith-based mission. “In Brazil, you either go to a super Catholic university or you prioritize good academics. Notre Dame was the junction of both,” he says.
When he was applying to colleges, Notre Dame alumni and parents reached out to him with information. As soon as Oliveira was accepted, he was invited into a WhatsApp group chat with five current students. Receiving a handwritten welcome letter from a student sealed his decision.
Once on campus, he met at least 20 other Brazilian students. They spontaneously started a pickup soccer game. He lived in St. Edward’s Hall as a freshman and made many friends. Last fall, he transferred to Keough Hall, where he rooms with five other Brazilian students. He appreciates the fact that the hall chapel and dorm Masses are only a flight of stairs away.
He’s active in the Student International Business Council, the Notre Dame Sailing Club, the Sports Analytics Club and the Brazilian Association. He studied in Greece and plans to spend next fall in Rome, even though he’ll miss Notre Dame’s football season. “I want to study abroad more than I want to watch football. The Greece program was the best trip I’ve ever done in my life,” he says.
Notre Dame’s commitment to enrolling international students is important, he says. “As undergrads from abroad, we’re bringing diversity and a new way of looking at things,” he says. “We’re challenging ourselves to come here, get out of our comfort zone and speak a language that for many of us is our second language.” Fresh perspectives, he says, are valuable for the University, alumni and future employers.
Angela Mathew
Mumbai, India
Angela Mathew, a senior political science major, plans to be a journalist. She interned at The Dallas Morning News and works as a freelance reporter for the South Bend Tribune.
Mathew, who is Catholic, knew she wanted to attend college in the United States. “I wanted to study the humanities. The U.S. system is really good, because you can try out so many things. In India, college is a three-year degree — and once you commit to a major, you just study that,” she says.
She is an American citizen, born in Los Angeles while her family was living there for several years. When she was 4, the family moved home to India.
“Being here has been really good, because I got to learn what the U.S. is really like, not just the stereotypical coastal views,” Mathew says. She occasionally meets peers who don’t know about Mumbai, which has a metropolitan population of more than 20 million people. “There’s also a bunch of stuff I don’t know about the Midwest, so it goes both ways,” she says.
She doesn’t mind being part of the small group of Indian students on campus. “It’s a good chance to experience something very different and learn about it. If I want to be a journalist here, meeting and getting to know different kinds of Americans has helped me,” she says.
Mathew found it challenging initially to cultivate strong friendships. But over time she has made close friends, and “now I feel it’s more about quality than quantity,” she says. “One of the benefits — or challenges — of being here is I don’t think you could go four years here without making friends who are very American. You’re just exposed to people who are so different from you.”
Mathew says she’s grown as a writer because she’s been challenged by her professors. “You have to focus on making an argument, not just on making the words look pretty,” she says. “The professors here really care a lot.”
Macdonald Zharima
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Macdonald Zharima learned about Notre Dame while attending the African Leadership Academy, an international high school near Johannesburg, South Africa. Several ALA graduates are Notre Dame alumni.
He was intrigued by the University’s academic standards and Catholic mission. Although he’s a Protestant, he was drawn to the notion of a faith-based institution because religious colleges in Africa are rare.
Zharima says his parents were concerned about him going so far away and initially wanted him to limit his college search to Africa. “But I wanted to have a very different experience,” he says. “They wanted me to be safe, but I was thinking more in terms of trying to get the best education that I possibly can. It could open opportunities for me.”
He had never traveled off the African continent before arriving in South Bend. The junior computer science major suffered some homesickness during his first fall semester. He lives in O’Neill Family Hall, where he found a vibrant dorm culture and has made many friends.
He faced challenges adapting to the American education system. In Africa it’s typical to spend a whole semester learning but be graded only on the final exam. Completing assignments and tests throughout the semester was a big change. “Also, speaking English all the time — that was something new,” says Zharima, who started learning English at age 5.
He’s active in the National Society of Black Engineers, the CS4Good (Computer Science for Good) club and the African Students Association. He worked at the Idea Center last summer developing software for startup firms and is an international student ambassador for the admissions office. He’ll study in London this spring and intern at Microsoft next summer.
He knew nothing about American football before college, but he attends all the games and now closely follows the team. “My friends and I have conversations about football. I find myself actually contributing,” he says with a smile. “I’m heavily invested now.”
Zharima says international undergrads bring a different perspective to Notre Dame, a broader understanding of other lives and cultures.
He wants to be a software engineer, possibly starting with a job in the U.S. But eventually he wants to return to Zimbabwe, start a business and contribute to his community. “I feel,” he says, “like there’s a lot for me to do back home.”
Xiyun Wu
Shenzhen, China
Xiyun Wu attended a bilingual high school in her southern China hometown, where classes were taught primarily in English. Most of her classmates chose colleges in the United Kingdom, but she wanted to study in the United States.
As someone with an artistic sensibility, she felt drawn to the way Notre Dame looked and was described online — including its sense of tradition. The University put her in touch with a young alumna. “She told me about her experience here, how warm and familylike the entire community is,” says Wu, a senior Asian studies and art, art history and design major with a Japanese minor.
Wu arrived intending to become a studio artist. She now plans to attend graduate school and become an art historian, professor or curator.
She started school in 2021, while the coronavirus pandemic was still underway and China remained under strict health protocols. She wasn’t able to return to China and see her family for nearly 18 months. “That was very hard,” she says.
Her greatest challenges were cultural: the limited number of fellow students from her region of the world. (In fall 2024, Notre Dame registered 156 undergraduates from East and Southeast Asia.) Wu didn’t always understand Western pop culture references. It took her time to make friends. “Now we have more common interests and things we can talk about,” she says.
Wu spent one summer working at a film agency in New York and another at a publishing house in Hong Kong. Last summer she landed an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
She is co-president of the Art History Club and attends events hosted by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. She also works as a research assistant for a professor who specializes in Chinese theater.
The University is doing the right thing by growing the international student population, Wu says. “Making the learning community more diverse internationally can bring more perspective. Also, realistically, it will make the transition from one’s home country community a lot easier when you have a bigger cohort and more people are experiencing the same thing.”
Eoin McLoughlin
Dublin, Ireland
Eoin McLoughlin has known about Notre Dame since he was a boy. “Notre Dame is big in Ireland,” he says, referring to the three games the football team has played in his hometown over the past three decades.
McLoughlin, who is Catholic and attended a Jesuit high school, knew he wanted to attend college abroad. “I wanted to leave Dublin, expand my horizons,” he says. The University put him in touch with an admissions counselor and several current students. He and his parents were doubtful the family could afford to send him to Notre Dame, but the school provided enough aid to make his dream possible.
“That Irish connection definitely made it easier. Moving abroad anywhere, the first thing you try to do is establish common ground with the people there to make friends,” says McLouglin, a sophomore business analytics major who is preparing for a career in venture capital.
He lives in Morrissey Hall, where he was assigned to a freshman quad and regularly attends hall Masses. His first year was difficult, and he was homesick. “Going home for fall break and getting to see my friends again definitely helped,” he says. “I knew in the back of my mind that everyone struggles in the first few months.”
He recommitted to expanding his circle and seeking friends from around the globe. “It’s paying dividends now, because I absolutely love it here. The community I’ve managed to be part of makes it way easier,” he says.
He’s a member of the campus Gaelic Athletic Association and the Venture Capital Club, and he coaches startups at the Idea Center. He also landed a McNeill Common Good Fellowship — a paid, three-year opportunity to explore how to live an ethical life.
Last summer, McLoughlin went home to Dublin, worked at a public relations firm and backpacked around Europe. Next summer, he’s planning a research project abroad related to public service. During his junior year, he plans to study in Hong Kong or Singapore. Gaining international experience and pursuing internships will help his future business career, McLouglin says. “Opportunitywise and careerwise, Notre Dame is just incredible.”
McLoughlin believes the University is on the right track in recruiting international undergraduates. In the globalized world, people will work with colleagues from many nations. “International students contribute in more ways than you think to campus life. They’re incredibly enriching for American students,” he says. “International students are integral to the University.”
Margaret Fosmoe is an associate editor of this magazine. She can be reached at mfosmoe@nd.edu.