According to the United Nations, “100 million individuals have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations.” Many of these individuals have lost their chances of obtaining a higher education. In particular, three universities are offering scholarships for students from war-torn countries.

HEC Paris

The HEC Foundation and HEC Paris created “HEC Imagine Fellows” in October 2021 — a scholarship program for students from war-torn countries. The two-year-long program helps students pursue a master’s degree in management. Adrien Nussenbaum, co-founder and joint-CEO of Mirakl and graduate of HEC Paris, funded “HEC Imagine Fellows.” HEC Paris greeted its first enrollment of students at the beginning of the 2022 academic year.

HEC Paris believes that promoting “diversity, intercultural comprehension and tolerance” between its students from different cultural backgrounds will create more peace in the world. For this reason, the scholarship program will choose successful applicants based not only on their academic excellence but also on their interest in intercultural understanding and peace.

During the academic course Business & Peace, students will examine the role that private businesses may play in helping to keep peace and stability in areas that have experienced violence or war. In Business for Peace & Development, applicants will explore how private businesses could collaborate with NGOs in post-conflict areas to “support integrated growth, climate, and biodiversity initiatives,” Bloomberg says.

In Public Policy & Social Responsibility, students will research the problems with child labor in underdeveloped and conflict-torn countries and propose ways to reduce its occurrence. HEC Paris has made it a priority to cover the yearly tuition of approximately 10 students from conflict-ridden countries.

Columbia University

Columbia University established Scholarship for Displaced Students as an attempt to assist foreign students who cannot finish their higher education studies due to conflict or other types of danger in their home countries. As a sign of Columbia’s support, the university will award these students “up to full tuition, housing and living assistance while pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees across all 19 Columbia schools and affiliates,” Columbia Global Centers reports.

Annually, the program will provide up to $6 million in funding to each cohort of around 30 students. Schools, the scholarship program and student organizations at Columbia will offer mentoring and assistance to these refugee students. The scholarship program has already helped 33 students from 19 nations to further their studies in 14 educational institutions. The scholarship has no age limitations but there are eligibility requirements.

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester Humanitarian Scholarships came about at the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, but extends to “any international applicant who has been displaced because of armed conflict or is at serious risk of persecution or violence due to race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,” its website says. As many as 20 refugee students will receive a fully funded scholarship. The university provided “10 undergraduate and 10 postgraduate-taught” positions in the initial year and covered tuition, living expenses and visas. The estimated annual operating cost of the scheme is £5 million.

People who are currently residing outside of the U.K. and those who have sought asylum in the U.K. are eligible to apply to the university. The program requirements are flexible. Apart from the University of Manchester Humanitarian Scholarships, the university also provides other scholarships as a part of its social responsibility agenda. For example, there are Equity and Merit Scholarships for sub-Saharan African students and Undergraduate Access Scholarships for “U.K. applicants who have been in care or estranged,” its website says.

Education should be accessible to everyone who is willing to learn and expand their knowledge and war or persecution should not limit this. For this reason, scholarships for students from war-torn countries are necessary and essential.

– Elizaveta Medvedkina
Photo: Flickr