Stepping Up: Refugees in Need of Higher Education and So Much More

With climate change, political unrest, wars, famine, there are countless people experiencing forced migration today as well as others impacted by the suspension of refugee programs, there is a dire need to step back to see the big picture for higher education as well as step up. The goal of episode #231 is to help people understand the circumstances in the world and how it affects people on the move, including humanitarian implications and possibilities. Some of the most vetted people on the planet who have been approved to migrate to the United States are being stopped and are stranded in route. And yet, the data indicate that within 6 years of arrival, such refugees are more highly employed than US citizens; in fact, the statistics are highly revealing in terms what they contribute back to society, Recent students with refugee status at Indiana University (IU) have come from Ukraine, Congo, Syria, South Sudan, Palestine, Pakistan, Iran, and most from Afghanistan. In this episode, we will get an update on such data from Nicole Bennett, Assistant Director for the IU Center for Refugee Studies. We will also hear from Rendy Schrader, Senior Director, International Student & Scholar Programming and New Initiatives, Office of International Services at IU, As Rendy points out, just 1 percent of refugees had access to higher education in 2019. That has increased to 7 percent in 2024 and the goal is 15 percent by 2030, per the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR is an agency that was mandated by the U. N. "to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country" (Wikipedia, 2025). Given the series of shockwaves caused by recent news, refugees need universities to step up even more right now as they need training on multiple topics including dietary needs, credentials, housing needs, immigration status, the importance of work, the reality of their educational studies, sending money home, and much more. Among the resources in Indiana for refugees is Patchwork Indy is a not-for-profit organization in Indianapolis, Indiana, deeply involved in refugee resettlement and support. IU also partners with Exodus, which develops relationships with schools, churches, etc. and helps bring it all together when the families arrive. Listen or watch Episode #231 for some interesting timely and current data, emotionally impactful stories, and ways that your organization or institution can perhaps step back and step up.

Rendy Schrader is Chair of Indiana University’s Refugee Task Force, Rendy Schrader has led the campus effort to admit and serve refugee students for the past four years.  She is based in the IU Office of International Services, where she is a Senior Director for International Student & Scholar Programming and Initiatives.  After graduating from IU in 1982, she moved to Washington, DC and began a career in international education and has worked in it ever since. Working with this population has been among the most rewarding work she’s done.

Nicole Bennett is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography with a minor in Informatics at Indiana University Bloomington. She is the Assistant Director of the IU Center for Refugee Studies. She uses her experience working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development in Uganda, and other humanitarian and development agencies to critically interrogate the turn towards data-driven solutions in the humanitarian space. Ms. Bennett is interested in physical/digital interaction and how technology intensifies these spaces of interaction.

July 25, 2024, IU’s relationship with refugee resettlement organization helps with fresh starts, self-sufficiency: https://news.iu.edu/live/news/37243-ius-relationship-with-refugee-resettlement-organization, Indiana University News.