Refugees in Higher Education

A Review of Policy Considerations

With more than 26 million refugees registered in 2019, the number of university-age refugees worldwide presents policy challenges for higher education institutions and governments. This paper provides an exploratory review of the benefits and challenges regarding refugee higher education, as well as an overview of higher education policies in a sample of countries. The case of policy considerations for Syrian refugees in the German context is then discussed. The paper concludes with suggested improvements to existing policies on the federal, state, and institutional levels, such as free language instruction and revised admissions policies.

Keywords: refugees, policy, access to higher education, education accessibility, higher education policy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36197/INT.2-2021.01