Key Moments
Hacking Access: Reforming University Application Processes for Conflict-Impacted Students
MIT OpenCourseWareKey Moments
SYE empowers conflict-impacted students to navigate university applications by addressing financial and systemic barriers.
Key Insights
University application processes create significant financial and logistical barriers for conflict-impacted students.
Standardized tests, application fees, and financial documentation are major obstacles due to cost and accessibility.
Lack of institutional support from high schools, especially for displaced students, shifts the burden onto applicants.
Organizations like SYE provide crucial mentorship, financial aid, and advocacy to bridge these gaps.
Creative solutions, such as alternative application pathways and centralized resource hubs, are emerging.
Universities need to adopt more flexible and context-aware admissions policies to ensure equitable access.
INTRODUCTION TO SYRIAN YOUTH EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVE (SYE)
The session, organized by the Migration Summit 2022, highlights the Syrian Youth Empowerment Initiative (SYE) and its mission to assist students affected by conflict. Founded in 2015, SYE emerged from a desire of students who benefited from educational opportunities to give back to those in Syria facing immense challenges. These challenges include displacement, sanctions, and severe economic instability, exemplified by the drastic devaluation of the Syrian pound. Despite these obstacles, SYE strives to provide mentorship, financial support, and a comprehensive curriculum to guide students through the complex global university application process.
THE CHALLENGES OF TRADITIONAL UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS
The traditional university application process, particularly in the US, presents numerous costly and complex hurdles for conflict-impacted students. These include mandatory standardized tests like the SAT/ACT and English proficiency exams (TOEFL, IELTS), which can cost hundreds of dollars. Furthermore, building college lists, writing essays, submitting applications, and completing financial aid documents all incur fees and require access to resources that are often unavailable. The reliance on high school counselors for recommendation letters and transcript submission becomes a significant barrier when schools are non-existent, inaccessible, or lack the capacity to support displaced students.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF APPLYING AS A CONFLICT-IMPACTED STUDENT
Mark Jabbour, an MIT student and SYE alum, shared his journey, emphasizing the financial burden of testing fees and the confusion of navigating foreign application questions. He highlighted the necessity of a gap year and the complexities of securing a visa, including repeated $160 application fees and the need to travel to other countries for embassy appointments. Ahmed Haj Ahmed, an MIT ReACT learner, detailed his experience of being displaced from Syria and unable to attend university in Turkey due to financial hardship. He faced challenges with his high school in Saudi Arabia providing documentation and recommendation letters, eventually applying to US universities and facing rejection due to high financial need before ultimately receiving a full scholarship to Haverford College.
IDENTIFIED BARRIERS AND THEIR IMPACT
The speakers detailed several critical barriers faced by conflict-impacted students. These include the prohibitive cost of required testing, the difficulty of maintaining internet connectivity for online exams, and the challenge of accessing and understanding online application resources. The emotional toll of essay prompts, which can be triggering for those with traumatic experiences, was also highlighted. Furthermore, the absence of institutional support from high schools—whether due to the school's closure, lack of administrative willingness, or the inaccessibility of transcripts—places an immense burden on students to act as their own advocates and intermediaries with universities, a task that is both time-consuming and emotionally draining.
EXISTING SOLUTIONS AND MODELS FOR SUPPORT
Despite the significant challenges, various solutions are emerging, though not yet scaled to meet the demand. Individual universities are implementing supportive policies, such as deferring financial aid applications until after admission (e.g., MIT) or accepting recommendations from organizations where high schools lack infrastructure. EducationUSA offers resources but is not present in all conflict-affected regions. SYE acts as a vital support system, addressing cost, resource, and accreditation gaps but faces limitations in capacity and the intensive time required to build relationships with individual universities. Organizations like UWC and Jusoor offer alternative pathways, with Jusoor creating specialized application processes in partnership with specific universities.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The session aimed to brainstorm solutions, focusing on creating a more accessible application process. Proposed ideas include establishing a centralized resource and information hub for displaced students, advocating for internal policy changes at universities, developing specialized scholarship applications (like the Jusoor model), and creating a local partner resource hub for universities to consult. The formation of cross-university coalitions with standardized policies for conflict-impacted students was also suggested. The goal is to move beyond individualized, decentralized efforts towards more scalable and equitable approaches that acknowledge the unique circumstances of students affected by conflict, ensuring their aspirations are not hindered by systemic barriers.
Mentioned in This Episode
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Common Questions
SYE is an organization founded in 2015 that provides mentorship, essay editing, CV building, financial support for application fees, and advocacy for students affected by conflict. Their goal is to help students navigate the complex university application process.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
An organizer of the Migration Summit.
An organizer of the Migration Summit.
An organizer of the Migration Summit.
An organization involved in organizing the migration summit and the session on hacking access.
An organizer of the Migration Summit, involved in the session.
An organization focused on empowering Syrian youth through education and mentorship, a key speaker organization at the session.
An organization that SYE works with to help students get waivers for testing fees.
An organization that helps with resource gaps in accreditation, though it does not have an office in Syria.
Acronym for Syrian Youth Empowerment Initiative, which provides mentorship, financial support, curriculum, and advocacy for students.
The university where Majed AbdulSamad obtained his master's degree.
An English proficiency test that is not available in Syria.
An organization that has created an alternative pathway for Syrian students to apply to universities, partnering with institutions like Illinois Tech.
A global network of schools that offers a pathway for displaced students to pursue higher education, often via the Davis scholarship.
A university that partnered with Jusoor to create a specialized application pathway for Syrian students.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a university that offers generous financial aid and has specific policies to support students, such as not requiring CSS profile until after admission.
A standardized test often required for US university admissions.
The currency of Syria, which has experienced significant devaluation, making international payments extremely difficult for students.
A standardized test often required for US university admissions, which can be cost-prohibitive for displaced students.
A company where graduates from the Jusoor program are employed.
A company where graduates from the Jusoor program are employed.
The college Ahmed Haj Ahmed will be attending with a full scholarship.
A company where graduates from the Jusoor program are employed.
An English proficiency test that SYE helps students access, as IELTS is not available in Syria.
The university Majed AbdulSamad was suspended from for political activism.
Assistant director of strategic initiatives from the MIT Refugee Action Hub, who introduced the session.
A current SYE student and MIT ReACT student who shared his experience applying to US universities.
A participant in a breakout room discussion who shared findings on resource hubs for universities and students.
Part of the SYE leadership team, leading the grad program, who provided an overview of SYE's mission and achievements.
Co-founder of SYE, who spoke about the Jusoor model and his personal experience.
A participant who shared a comment about encouraging open sharing of ideas in breakout rooms.
An SYE alum, advisory committee member, mentor, and current MIT student who shared his application experience.
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