Increasing Access to Higher Education for Refugee and Displaced Students

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

2:30 PM – 3:20 PM MDT

Location: Mile High Ballroom 4CD

Panelists discuss the general state of the global refugee crisis, what institutions are doing to assist refugee and displaced students (R&DS), what resources are available to aid R&DS, how other countries are supporting R&DS, and what international educators can learn from these initiatives.

Learning Objectives:

Increase awareness of the challenges of R&DS and the role that education could play in helping these students be the leaders of tomorrow.
Identify various models in which institutions outside of higher education (e.g., Duolingo and Educational Credential Evaluators Aid) are providing to support to these students.
Identify best practices in admissions, financial support, advising, and other resources for the success of R&DS.
Highlight the need to increase access to higher education for R&DS to enhance internationalization of U.S. colleges and universities and encourage institutions to support advocacy by NAFSA and other organizations.

Chair and Presenter(s)

Semhar Okbazion, LL.M.

Assistant Director
University of Maryland, Baltimore

Presenter(s)

Sam Fleischmann, MA

International Engagement Manager
Duolingo, Inc.
Marie Y. Hayes, MBA

Director, International Student & Scholar Affairs
Luther Seminary
Zachary Holochwost, MA

ECE® Aid & Market Research Manager
Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE)