This is an opinion article and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Tulane Hullabaloo.

Tulane University is a global leader in providing world-class education to students from every corner of the planet. Every year, students from all across the United States and world flock to New Orleans to study at the prestigious research university, and many students receive numerous scholarships to do so. In order to further increase its global presence, Tulane needs to improve its charitable record by creating a scholarship for ambitious students fleeing unsafe living conditions abroad.

Currently, Tulane limits the amount of need-based financial aid international students are eligible to receive to $20,000. This is less than a third of the cost of attendance, including tuition and living expenses, necessary to study at Tulane for one year. Additionally, international students must seek private loans, since federal aid is not available to them. Typically, these loans are more difficult to pay off. While merit scholarships are available, studying at Tulane is not an affordable option for the world’s brightest international students if they are economically disadvantaged.

To make matters worse, this is a time when civil wars and chaos are erupting across the world. To remedy this shortcoming, Tulane should create a scholarship that covers the entire cost of attendance of a few international students every year who are refugees escaping unsafe living conditions in foreign countries.

Tulane cannot solve the Syrian Civil War, prevent the Third Intifada or defeat the Islamic State. We are now a university within the top 45, however, and we do have the resources to help a young schoolgirl fleeing her home in Damascus enroll in a pre-medical program or a gay man from Mosul, Iraq begin working towards his degree in history.

Kevin is a junior at Newcomb-Tulane College. He can be reached at [email protected].