“Welcome Intruders: Religion, Race, and West African Student Migration to the United States, 1895-1965” examines the largely neglected religious history of how the U.S. became one of the primary destinations for the higher education of West African students during the twentieth century. I argue that students mobilized U.S. Christian networks and rhetoric to advocate for opportunities that would assist them in navigating the thorny relationship between race, higher education, and colonialism. Moreover, while scholars of religion have often examined the mobility of missionaries as an important aspect of American religious history, this dissertation sheds light on international students as an understudied, yet no less significant, population that is critical for understanding the contours of U.S. Christianity, race, and migration. Employing archival sources such as newspapers, student autobiographies, and mission board records, this dissertation traces how West African students fostered connections with U.S. religious actors and often employed their U.S. education to critique global structures of racism and colonialism. Privileging the experiences of students who attended historically Black colleges and universities, this dissertation examines how students variously experienced and interpreted race in the U.S. in ways that challenged the expectations of their benefactors.