Find opportunities that are right for you to continue your education outside your home country.
© 2024 Freedom Degree
Freedom Degree, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. © 2024 | Powered by Strapi
Find opportunities that are right for you to continue your education outside your home country.
For Educators
Collaborate with usFreedom Degree, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. © 2024 | Powered by Strapi
Find opportunities that are right for you to continue your education outside your home country.
© 2024 Freedom Degree
Freedom Degree, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. © 2024 | Powered by Strapi
Valeria Chyzh, a citizen of Belarus, studied at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) in Moscow. After participating in an anti-war protests in Moscow, she was subsequently detained for ten days at the notorious Sakharovo Detention Centre for emigrants. Fearing extradition to Belarus, where she could face problems related to her participation in political protests in 2020, she decided not to wait for the worst consequences and left Russia. Later she found out that Russian authorities had banned her from entering the country for 45 years.
Valeria attempted to obtain her bachelor's degree through distance learning in Russia while also searching for options to study in another country. However, she was not given the opportunity to defend her thesis in a Russian university.
"Despite having dual citizenship, I found it challenging to receive assistance from Belarusian projects that help students, since I hadn't studied at a Belarusian university," she says. "Eventually, I was recommended to apply to Freedom Degree for help.
I remember sitting in a coffee shop and talking to the Freedom Degree Director. At that point, I had lost hope of obtaining my bachelor's degree and it seemed like I would have to end my academic career. However, I received support and encouragement, and we started working on my problem."
Valeria is currently a student of political science at Vilnius University: "My area of interest lies at the intersection of political science and urban studies. I'm interested in studying the sociology of the city, the sociology of urban government, and local communities. For my thesis I'm researching social cohesion in urban studies, particularly in urban communities, using Kosovo as an example."
Valeria has noticed a significant difference in the quality of education between her Russian university and Vilnius University. She enjoyed her studies in Moscow, but she finds her experience at Vilnius University to be more fulfilling and pleasant. For the first time, she has had an open and positive interaction with research advisers who have read her thesis. Her thesis was carefully studied, and she received valuable advice, despite the fact that Valeria was the only one who presented her project in English.
She notes a fundamental difference in the way this process was organized at Vilnius University compared to her Russian university:
"I recall my time at the Russian State University for the Humanities, when we had to defend our coursework or submit it for evaluation to a third party. Usually, they would only give it a cursory glance and provide very general feedback, almost as if they didn't care. During the defense, it seemed like nobody really took the time to read our work, despite the fact that we had spent months working on it, which was quite disheartening."
Valeria considers it important that her new classmates are seriously engaged in educational activities. She has noticed a significant difference in students’ level of dedication. Furthermore, there is also a notable difference in the percentage of students who attend university with a clear purpose, versus those who attend just for the sake of it. Valeria recalls her time in Moscow, where many students would attend university solely to avoid military service or because their parents had instructed them to do so.
Valeria is a person with ambitious plans for the future: "I wish to bridge the gap between the Academy and the world of applied politics. Additionally, I aspire to assist students who find themselves in difficult situations. I want to redirect somehow the resources that I accumulated with Freedom Degree, including emotional support, guidance, and care to this. I am grateful that Freedom Degree today places such emphasis on bachelor’s students."
K. was a historian who studied in Russia. When the Russian army invaded Ukraine, he joined antiwar activists and came under the scrutiny of security forces. He was detained multiple times during anti-war rallies and was slapped with administrative fines. Eventually, he had to leave the country, and it cost him his undergraduate studies.
One day, the student found out about Freedom Degree and asked for help, but he didn't have high hopes for a positive outcome:
"Somehow I came across Freedom Degree, routinely described my story and sent it without expecting much, but to my surprise, they responded in several weeks that they could really help.
I lived in Belgrade since 2022, and I got several offers from British universities, but I couldn't leave Serbia due to visa delays. However, I intend to apply for a visa and hope to enroll in the university upcoming summer. I didn't have any high expectations, but I was amazed at how Freedom Degree helped me get admitted to a university in my field of study, which allows me to continue my education in the near future."
K. is planning to move to the UK but has already faced serious bureaucratic difficulties in obtaining a visa. As a student, delays in the visa process often mean missing the beginning of the school year and having to reschedule their training. "The UK Visas and Immigration service is more concerned with preventing refugee migration than helping refugees," he says. Additionally, due to his difficult financial situation in Serbia, K. is unable to legalize his status. Despite this, K. feels safer in Serbia than in Russia and is continuing his work on activist projects: "Freedom Degree is almost the only organization that truly helps undergraduate students continue their studies. They assist students to exercise their rights to an education, get a degree, become specialists, and make the world a better place."
Pyotr studied psychology in St. Petersburg and completed two years. He has also been working as a journalist for several years, which is his primary profession, while training as a psychologist as an additional skill.
However, working as a courageous journalist in an authoritarian country Pyotr faced serious threats from the security forces. He was subjected to physical violence, including an attack by unknown assailants near his house that resulted in a broken nose. Later, he received threats of being sent to the army.
After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Pyotr began to look for options to study in another country. He then enrolled in the European Humanities University in Vilnius, to study media communications, which is closely related to his main professional activities.
However, like many forced migrants, Pyotr has been experiencing financial difficulties. Due to this, he sought help from Freedom Degree: "I'm working, but my salary is spent mostly on rent, learning the language, and bare necessities. I can't afford to pay for my studies independently. Fortunately, Freedom Degree guaranteed to support me financially if necessary."
Pyotr was unable to transfer to the second or third year of his Bachelor's degree. As a result, he had to start all over again from the first year. The psychology program he studied in St. Petersburg was vastly different from the media and communications program at EHU.
Pyotr notes that it is not difficult to gain admission to EHU, as the application is submitted online, and the university only requires the confirmation of English language test results. During his admission interview, Pyot was asked about his experience and motivation: "Everything went quickly and easily, as my life revolves around media and communications. I have identified as a journalist since my school years."
After February 22, 2022, Pyotr has been cautious about making any big future plans. Nonetheless, he is considering pursuing master's programs that are related to his primary profession in the media.
"It's wonderful that Freedom Degree supports students who sometimes have to flee their countries with only shorts, slippers, and a robe. Without access to education abroad, the experience can be unpleasant and limiting. Legalization opportunities are reduced and individuals must rely solely on themselves."
Sam is a social anthropologist who specializes in studying sound and voice. He is currently a Russian bachelor's student who is studying in exchange in Marburg, Germany. Sam cannot return to Russia because he faces military conscription. Sam managed to avoid conscription by literally running away from the enlistment office and flying to another country on the same day. However, his mobile phone and passport remained at the army office. To explain the situation, Sam submitted a statement of theft through his representative.
Sam managed to complete the second year of his bachelor's degree in his Russian university by negotiating distance learning with each teacher.
"It was a challenging situation, and the problem was unexpectedly resolved, mostly by chance. Bachelor's degrees are seldom funded, and Freedom Degree provides financial assistance only to activists. However, I managed to find a training program for myself, quite literally on Tinder. I connected with a guy on Tinder, and he told me about this course. Thanks to this lucky coincidence, I was able to find an academic opportunity for myself."
"In Marburg, I found the bureaucracy to be quite gentle. The more challenging part was to find a curriculum that suited me. Honestly, I am not a big fan of Germany, and I wouldn't prefer to stay here for my studies. Instead, I would be happy to move to somewhere in the north, such as Norway, to pursue my master's degree."
"It's great that there are organizations like Freedom Degree and people who help others from going mad. However, the problem is that these organizations are often invisible. If my friends from DOXA hadn't told me anything, I wouldn't have known about Freedom Degree. This seems to be a common issue with activists and organizations like them. They are difficult to find, but it's good to know they exist."
Mikita Kuchinsky is a freelance journalist and has been working in the media since 2020, back when he was a student at a Russian university. In addition, he has been involved in political activism, even running as a candidate for municipal deputy in his hometown of Lytkarino. According to Mikita, this activist experience played a great role in his future enrolment at a Norwegian university.
As early as high school, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do: journalism. It seemed to me that the best way to do that was to get a specialized education. So I enrolled in a program called international journalism in Moscow.
Mikita was quickly disappointed in his choice. He faced a situation usual for Russia - the low quality of higher education.
From about the first week, I realized that this was absolutely not something that would help me in my professional career. The academic level was about zero in most disciplines. The professors were constantly going off topic, eventually forgetting their subject matter. There were no alternative teachers and the program was just very weak, to describe it in a nutshell.
In addition, there were a lot of political points that I could not agree with. I was already involved in activism at that time, I was running for election, I participated in rallies, I was detained. Of course, I could not agree with the position of supporting Putin and the current government. When you wake up at 5:30 a.m., leave at 6:30 a.m., spend an hour and a half commuting to the university, and at 8 a.m. in class listen to a political science professor thanking Putin for the Sochi Olympics and the annexation of Crimea - this is, to put it mildly, disgusting.
Nikita says that he had originally planned to stay in Russia and continue his studies, enroling in a more prestigious university to finally get a good quality education. The tragic circumstances of the beginning of the war prevented this. In addition, Nikita now simply cannot return to Russia and study there - he has publicly worked for an organization that the Russian authorities have declared “undesirable”. This clearly jeopardizes his safety.
I immediately realized that propaganda narratives would take over all Russian education. I decided not to continue my studies in Moscow and paused my studies altogether. I went to Lithuania and continued to do journalistic work from there.
After a year of living and working in Lithuania, Mikita decided that he needed to move further down the educational track. Around the same time, he was offered the opportunity to attend a university in Norway on a scholarship program. The study takes place at the University of Tromsø, in northern Norway, in a program called "Peace and Conflict Transformation". This is a Norwegian government program that provides scholarships and covers tuition for students from developing countries, especially political activists at risk of persecution.
Mikita describes the experience of studying in Norway as both more enjoyable and more productive than in Russia. In Norway, he notes the openness of the university environment and the lack of unnecessary control, which creates a sense of free space.
In Moscow, access to the university was limited by some endless turnstiles, guards, and passes. Here in Tromsø, the library is staffless even on weekends and you can enter the building around the clock if you have a student card.
According to Mikita, the second major difference is that at his new university there is no attendance control in strange forms. In Moscow he had the impression that he was still in school.
In Norway, in contrast, the responsibility for learning is entirely yours, you decide which classes are important to you and which are not, and you try to remember what commitments you have made. All of this has a much better effect on intrinsic motivation.
One significant change for Mikita was the amount of academic literature in English that he have to read. This has seriously expanded his knowledge. In addition, the program has been successful in structuring his courses with an emphasis on practical application of knowledge and academic writing from the first days. Despite his lack of academic background, he was able to adapt quickly.
I caught up pretty quickly and was able to overcome the fear of not being able to study in English. The first academic session was a big stress for me, although in the end it turned out that there is nothing extraordinary about it, you just need to read regularly and logically put your thoughts into the text.
Mikita's expectations from his studies in Norway have been fully met. Now he is in the second year of his master's program and is working on his thesis. Speaking about life abroad and everyday aspects, Mikita notes the pros and cons.
Adaptation in Norway was difficult because of the harsh climatic conditions, especially polar days and nights, which affected the student's sleep and mental state. Socialization is made more difficult by the fact that Mikita does not know Norwegian. Another difficulty was the remote location of Tromsø, which makes traveling to Europe expensive.
When I arrived, there were polar days and it really messed with my sleep. Then there were polar nights in the winter, and it had a big impact on my mental state.
But life in Norway has its advantages. As Mikita says, even a job which is “unprestigious” in the Russian context can provide a decent income, which relieves some of the anxiety of students. They can work part-time and study at once.
And this is what Mikita says about his future:
It is very hard to make long-term plans in emigration. In terms of my studies, I am now thinking more and more often that I could stay in academia and continue to do research. I can't yet outline a specific trajectory, but I am thinking about it.
I can't imagine such a return until there are fundamental political changes. I have little hope for the near future, so I am trying to accept it and slowly build my life in exile. Nevertheless, I never cease to believe that one day I will be able to return to Russia in peace.