"For a student, even the smallest support can make all the difference, making it possible to continue our education. " 

Neriman is a Syrian refugee student living in Türkiye. Currently she is in her third-year at the Optical and Acoustics Engineering department at Gaziantep University. Born in Aleppo, Syria, she moved to Türkiye with her family at the age of seven after the war began. Since then, Gaziantep has become the city where she grew up, studied, and started building her future.  

As a child, Neriman always dreamed of inventing things. Passionate about subjects such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, she explored several options before eventually discovering Optical and Acoustics Engineering — a field she knew very little about at the time. 

“At first, it was an unknown major for me,” she says. “Maybe that is what made me love it even more.” 

Today, Neriman proudly says she cannot imagine herself studying anything else. She enjoys learning about lenses, lasers, light behaviour, and architectural acoustics, and dreams of one day specializing in fiber optics and building acoustics. In the future, she hopes to work on her own acoustic projects and become known for her inventions. 

Her educational journey, however, has not always been easy. As an international student, rising tuition fees created constant stress and uncertainty about whether she would be able to continue her studies. Receiving the Higher Education Cash Grant (HECG), provided in collaboration with UNHCR and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), during her second year of university, became an important source of support. 

“For a student, even the smallest amount of help can change everything,” Neriman explains. 

The grant helped ease the financial pressure of tuition payments and allowed her to focus more fully on her education and future goals. For Neriman, the support represented more than financial assistance — it became a source of motivation to continue pursuing her ambitions. 

Education has always held a special place in her life. Encouraged by her parents from an early age, Neriman believes education shapes not only careers, but also people and societies. She sees learning as the force that drives human progress, innovation, and understanding. 

“Education is part of becoming one’s self,” she says. “We are a projection of all the things we learn throughout our lives.” 

Looking ahead, Neriman hopes to use her education not only to build a successful career, but also to contribute to the advancement of her field. She dreams of becoming known for her inventions, pursuing her own discoveries in optics and acoustics, and developing innovative projects that can make a meaningful impact. “Young people are the ones building society, so their ideas and mindset are important for the progress of our world,” she says.

Neriman's story reflects a broader picture. While only 9% of refugee youth globally are enrolled in tertiary education, Türkiye has achieved a refugee tertiary education enrolment rate of nearly 12%, positioning itself as a global leader in expanding access to higher education for refugees through its strong commitment to inclusive education and long-term solutions.

UNHCR Türkiye remains grateful to Sweden’s International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, for its generous support, which enables the HECG programme to continue, and all donors whose flexible funding makes it possible to carry out necessary interventions. In cooperation with YTB, UNHCR has been providing cash grants to refugee and asylum-seeker students from various nationalities since 2014, with the programme expanding in 2022 to also include Syrian students under temporary protection. The programme reaches approximately 2,000 beneficiaries annually. Through this support, UNHCR aims to ease the financial barriers refugee students face in their educational journeys, empowering them to build their futures and reach their dreams.