Of the more than four million Syrian refugees in the Middle East and North Africa, the Institute of International Education (IIE) estimates that as many as 450,000 are 18-22 years old. Of that group, it assumes based on prewar enrollment ratesthat 90,000 to 110,000 are qualified for university.
More than four years into Syria's civil war, the number of displaced would-be university students may well be even higher. "The problem is snowballing," said James King, the senior research and communications manager at IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund. "You now have 25-year-olds who would have gone to university when they were 22 but have never been able to access it."
As the world has refocused its attention on the scale of the Syrian refugee crisis, the question of how to help those who’ve fled the conflict obtain higher education has gained renewed urgency.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/25/syrian-refugee-crisis-and-higher-education