Due to no fault of their own, Ghanaian students at the University of Memphis will lose their visas with no funds to self-deport.

The Government of Ghana had a pre-arranged agreement to pay for these students' academic and housing costs. This is a group of mostly 18-25 year olds studying engineering, medicine, accounting, IT, graphic design, and a variety of other degree programs. They brighten our community with big hearts and spirit. To talk with some of these students is to see true hospitality and concern for others. They are their brothers' keepers.

But the Government of Ghana has not paid. Fifty students were already stranded in the UK earlier this year. The University of Memphis has a student debt policy that has un-enrolled them from the fall semester. The students do not have the means to self-deport. Many of them find peace in their strong belief that, "God will provide." They are so trusting in their faith and other human beings. Please help them before ICE detains them.

There has been a donation page set up on the UofM website, but that money is to pay the Ghanaian government's debt. It will not aid the students in the eventuality that the debt is not paid.

***This fundraiser is not being managed by the Barth House or The Episcopal Diocese of West TN. It is the responsibility of me, Maggie Schaumleffel. Donations to personal fundraisers are not tax deductible.

Article from Ghana Web (181 government scholarship students stranded at University of Memphis over $3.6m debt by Lambert Donkor, July 5, 2025)

Article from the Daily Memphian (Nearly 200 students will be forced to leave U of M after Ghana fails to pay debt by Jody Callahan, July 15, 2025)

Article from Commercial Appeal (Ghanaian students in Memphis barred from fall classes after government doesn't pay tuition by Brooke Muckerman, July 11, 2025)