Wheaton College Announces Full Scholarship for Refugees from Countries Named in Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban

All costs will be covered.

Wheaton College has announced a full scholarship to be awarded to a student refugee fleeing conflict in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen—the seven nations named in President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban.

“We call on our colleagues at institutions of higher education across the country to join us in making a clear statement about the importance of diversity and openness on our campuses,” Wheaton president Dennis M. Hanno said in a release Tuesday. “By providing scholarship support to refugees from these countries, we extend the hand of opportunity and friendship to those who need it most and offer a model to our nation for more constructive engagement with the world.”

The private liberal arts college in Norton, Mass. is waiving its $60 application fee for interested students, and its scholarship will cover all the costs associated with attending Wheaton. Tied for 77th in U.S. News & World Report‘s list of the top liberal arts colleges in America, Wheaton’s tuition and fees for the 2016-17 school year were $49,012, plus $12,500 for room and board.

“At the same time, we urge our country’s leaders to end swiftly the ban on welcoming refugees and foreign nationals to sustain the productive exchange of ideas and viewpoints that make our institutions of higher learning such fertile ground for expanding knowledge and hope,” Hanno said.

If Trump’s executive order is not reversed in the near future, Wheaton will consider qualified refugees from those seven nations and others ravaged by war, who are already living in the United States.