In 1856, Reverend John Lynch helped co-found Niagara University, and four years later, Lynch would become the first archbishop of nearby Toronto. University officials point to this moment as one of the founding reasons why Niagara has since sought to become a destination for international scholars. In 2019, the University opened a Canadian campus in Vaughn, Ontario, and an international land crossing, the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, sits minutes away from its American campus in Lewiston, New York.
“My very first summer here teaching part-time courses back in 1996, more than half of the students in my graduate classes were from Canada. Quite often, classes were starting late because there was a backup at the border, those kinds of things,” said Chandra Foote, associate provost for Graduate and International Enrollment at Niagara University.
Foote states that when the university’s current president, Reverend James Maher, assumed office in 2013, a strategic plan was developed to increase the global diversity of international students on campus. Currently, as it stands, 23% of Niagara’s student population is made up of international students, but only 6% are from countries outside of Canada. Foote says building on that 6% would help the University grow as a partner to the major industry of the region.
“This is a highly tourist-focused industry. People come here from all over the world, and they want to have places where they can go to eat, have hotels that are accommodating to them, and religious places where they can go and worship,” Foote said. “If we are not going to be open and accepting and supportive of those kinds of things, then we're not going to have our major industry here.”
In late May, the Trump administration ordered a temporary freeze on all new student visa interviews, which strained admission rates of international prospects from countries that already had increased protocols. Canadians, however, do not undergo the same visa process.
Foote says that while the pause created an obstacle, the university was able to pivot by offering an alternative for certain students who missed out on visa interviews due to the freeze. This upcoming semester, three international students will begin their Niagara education studying abroad at one of the institution's sister schools in Salzburg, Austria. By spending their fall 2025 semester abroad, these students can start earning credits while awaiting visa approvals that were previously delayed.
“It's still risky in that let's say you take five courses at an international institution that's not in your home country, and it's not in the country that you intend to end up in, and you could still be turned down for the visa to come to the United States,” Foote said. “Then you're sitting there with credit hours on a transcript, wondering where you take that to and will it be accepted back at home?”
Classes at both Niagara’s Lewiston, New York, and Vaughn, Ontario campuses start Monday, August 24.
