The U.S. Embassy in Athens, in collaboration with the American College of Thessaloniki – Anatolia College, Deree – The American College of Greece, and Perrotis College – American Farm School, announces the program “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” that will provide higher education scholarships to 100 eligible refugees in Athens and 100 in Thessaloniki.

The goal of the program is to give opportunities to displaced students to continue their education; provide them with knowledge, skills and academic credits they can use either in Greece or in any other European country they move to in the future; help them get out of the camps and become integrated in local colleges; and offer young refugees hope for the future.

At last year’s Hack the Camp program, a creative marathon aimed at finding solutions to challenges that refugees face in Greece, co-organized by the U.S. Embassy in Athens,  a young female refugee spoke passionately of her desire to continue her university education.  She was a student of Economics at a university in Damascus, but she had to abandon her studies as she fled the war.  Her plea for a better future through education was the inspiration for the program.

The “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” program will offer two courses per student for the next two semesters (Fall 2017 and Spring 2018) in the three U.S. affiliated colleges in Athens and Thessaloniki. The courses offered will include preparatory English classes, academic classes in diverse fields based on the participants’ educational background, as well as vocational training.

In more detail, at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT), 50 refugee students will have the opportunity to take courses such as «Information Literacy» and «English Language», as well as more advanced courses in computing, English, international relations, and business administration that match the candidate’s background and interests.  At Deree, 100 hundred students will have the opportunity to select from an array of courses, such as «English for Academic Purposes,” «Fundamentals of Academic English», «Introduction to Academic Writing», «Mathematics for Liberal Arts», «Survey of Western Civilization» and others. At the Perrotis College of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, 50 students will be able to enroll

in courses such us “Marketing,” Research and Presentation Skills,” “Agricultural Economics,” “English Language,” “Introduction to Mathematics,” “Introductory Chemistry,” and “Information Technology.” The three partner educational institutions will receive and review all applications and will determine together with the applicant the appropriate courses.

Deadline for applications: August 30

For application and admissions information

• American College of Thessaloniki – Anatolia College: Ms. Roula Lebetli, Admissions Director, tel: 2310 398-239, email: rleb@act.edu | act.edu/education-unites
• Deree: Kathleen Macdonell, Consultant, tel: 2106009800 (ext. 1511), email: kmacdonell@acg.edu | acg.edu/education-unites

• Perrotis College: Ms. Katerina Pitseli, Education Unites Coordinator, tel: 2310 492-702, email: newstart@perrotis.edu.gr | perrotiscollege.edu.gr/new-start-project

For further information:

https://gr.usembassy.gov/education-unites/

For press issues: OPUS Integrated Communication 210 3242869 |Natalia Katifori: 6972345289 natalia@opusltd.com |Mania Ntanou: 6937056207 communication@opusltd.com