Colleges offer path to U.S. for refugees

Farah al Chammas is an 18-year-old Syrian refugee and a Christian. The civil war in Syria interrupted her life in Damascus as bombs exploded down the street and her sister narrowly escaped gunfire. In 2013, Farah was forced to leave behind her father and escape to the United States with the rest of her family. Farah is now a rising sophomore at Emory University and a member of student government.

Despite losing friends to terrorist attacks and seeking asylum in a foreign country, Farah’s Christian faith sustained her: “When you can’t control your life, you know who can. And that’s who you turn to.”

Like Farah, many refugees have found sanctuary in education. In the past year, a dozen American colleges pledged to waive tuition or grant scholarships for Syrian refugees, joining a consortium of 60 other schools already providing aid. Of the 100,000 refugees who qualify for higher education, only 150 have been granted scholarships in the U.S.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) is a non-profit helping students displaced by violence or natural disasters. To prevent leaving a lost-generation of Syrian students, IIE created a coalition of schools to accept refugees. College students have been major supporters.

For months, graduate students at University of Southern California advocated for refugee scholarships: The institution agreed to waive tuition for up to six refugees beginning next year. Tufts University outside Boston joined the consortium after student government voted for it in 2013.

Davidson College in North Carolina responded to student support and also partners with IIE. Anmar Jerjees is an Iraqi refugee and member of the campus refugee group. His experience fleeing the war in Iraq encourages him to help other refugees apply to Davidson, learn English, and prepare for citizenship tests.

Kaye-Lani Laughna in Davidson’s international admissions office says: “This is largely driven by our students. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to welcome a Syrian student in the next year.”

Colleges partnering with IIE include schools in states whose governors proposed banning Syrian refugees last year, including North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey. In addition to providing scholarships and funding, some schools are changing admissions standards and exchanging standardized tests for online interviews.

But not all groups have been successful. Students at University of Colorado Boulder formed a Books Not Bombs chapter. Their petition requesting at least 10 scholarships for Syrian students gathered only 267 signatures.

The UC-Boulder administration dismissed the petition, saying accommodations for Syrian refugees would violate school policy and federal law banning discrimination based on national origin. IIE challenged this accusation, saying other schools provide waivers and have not faced legality issues.

Even if administrations respond to advocacy, resources are limited and the demand is far higher than U.S. schools can provide. Daniel Obst, deputy vice president with IIE, says over 230 colleges agreed to waive tuition for Syrian refugees if the institute can provide funding. It is also difficult to obtain student visas, which is different than securing asylum. Refugees must prove academic readiness, financial stability, and a desire to return home—a difficult sentiment among those fleeing war.

Given financial constraints, IIE has backed off the campaign to add schools to the Syria consortium, focusing on the students already enrolled.

For Farah, a college education was formative for her transition: “I consider the United States my home. I owe this country my education … Emory is the biggest blessing in my entire life.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.