The vision of Romaversitas is a strong Romani intelligentsia that is capable of asserting the interests of Roma communities and creating narratives for Roma People. Our mission is to help young Romani students acquiring academic degrees, strengthening their skills, while shaping their identity and empowering them to build resilient communities.

The Roma constitutes the largest minority in Hungary with an estimated share of 7 percent of the total population of 10 million. As a result of systematic racism, Roma still faces numerous obstacles in accessing their rights, including the equal access to educational resources.

Despite some progress of the past few decades, not more than 20-25 percent of European Roma continue education after the school-leaving age, while two out of three young Romani students in Hungary drop out of the education system without a high school diploma. The gap between Roma and non-Roma students is still comparable to the size of the Black-White test score gap in the United States in the 1980s.

In Hungary, the chances of a Romani child to graduate from high school are three times lower than those of a non-Roma child and the chances of Romani students to get admitted to a university are eight times lower than those of their non-Romani peers.

The discrimination-based system condemns the Roma to do low-paying jobs, to live in segregated neighborhoods and to remain on the edges of society throughout their lives.

The key to social progress in Hungary is the creation of a strong Romani intelligentsia. Romaversitas works with Romani students from all over Hungary to help them overcome the disadvantages caused by systemic racism and allow them to meet their true potential. We support young Roma women and men to acquire academic degrees, build their communities, strengthen their identities, and develop their knowledge.

The core values of our educational activities include providing a safe space for our students, helping our communities grow and maintaining academic excellence. We create a student-oriented environment with special focus on personal attention.