Nevfel Akkasoglu was arrested and imprisoned for 14 months during the attempted Turkish military coup d’état in 2016 for being associated with a university the Turkish government had shut down.

Akkasoglu eventually made his way to New York’s Columbia University, where a new scholarship allows him to live and study without fear or worry over how to finance his education.

“This is really important for me to pursue my dreams in returning to my original profession, as being a lawyer, in the United States. I believe it would be really hard to pursue a master’s degree without that scholarship,” said Akkasoglu, a candidate for a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree in data privacy and cybersecurity at Columbia Law School.

Akkasoglu and his wife have asylum in the U.S.

“Being approved told me that our story, the things that I experienced in Turkey, the grave situations, really mattered. It told me that there is still hope, there is still hope in life. You should continue to pursue your dreams no matter what, and you should never give up,” said Akkasoglu.

His scholarship at Columbia is new and unusual. The Ivy League school offers full scholarships every year for refugees and other displaced students.

The Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students (CUSDS) was launched in December 2019. It is the first-ever Columbia-wide scholarship and the world’s first of its kind, according to the school’s website.

“I’m very grateful that I got the scholarship,” said Shabnam Fayyaz, a CUSDS recipient. Born in Afghanistan in 1996, the year the Taliban came to power, Fayyaz and her family fled first to Pakistan.

“I’m learning a lot. For every reading, I’m like, ‘Woah, this is what I really want to do.’ It’s like a dream that I’m fulfilling through this scholarship that I have and through this master’s human rights studies that I’m doing at Columbia,” said Fayyaz.

“Having this scholarship and doing this master’s, I’m discovering that I’m very interested in doing a PhD in human rights or going to law school to help immigrants and refugees in the future, especially women, coming from countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan,” she added.

Fayyaz is pursuing her master’s degree in human rights with a focus on refugee rights and women’s rights. She applied for asylum in 2019, and her case is pending.

Administered by the Columbia Global Centers, which are research outposts established by the university in nine international locations, CUSDS commits up to $6 million in scholarship money for up to 30 students.

The scholarship covers the students’ tuition, housing and living assistance while they pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees across all 18 of Columbia’s schools and affiliates.

Recipients will also reap mentoring benefits from the schools and student groups.

“[This scholarship] means hope. And despite all the challenges we have currently in the world, we can still make a change when you provide skilled people, who have the potential to change the world, then we are still in a good place,” said Sami Salloum, originally from Damascus, Syria, and a CUSDS recipient.

Salloum is a master’s student focusing on negotiation and conflict resolution. Before attending Columbia, Salloum interned with the United Nations Security Council. His case seeking asylum is pending.

“If other universities follow the pioneering experience that Columbia has launched, we’ll be in a good place where millions of children and youth who have been deprived from their education can join and prove themselves, and improve the circumstances of their communities,” Salloum added.

As of 2019, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that there were nearly 80 million displaced people around the world as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations.

Columbia University is accepting applications for its second class of CUSDS recipients. Those seeking to apply must be foreign nationals with refugee status or who have received U.S. asylum, submitted an asylum application, be in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status, or be classified as internally displaced persons. Those who are eligible may apply from anywhere in the world. There are no age restrictions and students are accepted on a rolling basis.

Applicants must apply to and be accepted by one of the degree programs listed on the website to be eligible for the CUSDS. Acceptance requirements and application deadlines differ depending on the school and degree program.

For the 2020-21 academic year, 18 students from 13 countries were selected from a competitive pool of more than 1,200 applicants.

“These students have been through traumatic experiences and they are determined to not let that stand in the way of them being able to pursue their dreams,” said Safwan Masri, the executive vice president for Columbia’s Global Centers and Global Development.

He added, “For us, at Columbia, to be able to provide them that opportunity that they otherwise would not have had, to get a full ride and pursue their studies, feels incredibly powerful.”

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)