Since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has blocked the 300,000-member Baha'i community from higher education, refusing young Baha'is entry into universities and colleges. The government has also sought to close down Baha'i efforts to establish their own institutions of higher learning.

These actions come against a wider picture of persecution of the Iranian Baha'i community that has included arbitrary executions, unjustified imprisonment, the confiscation of property, and severe restrictions on freedom of religious practice and worship. Against that backdrop, the efforts of the Iranian government to deny Baha'is the right to education can only be seen as a coordinated effort to eradicate the Baha'i community as a viable group within Iranian society.

Baha'is had been barred from institutions of higher education since 1980. In 2006, Baha'i students were permitted to sit for the required qualification examinations and about 200 Baha'i students were admitted to a number of universities and colleges in Iran. Throughout the school year, however, at least 128 of those students were expelled after their universities became aware that they were Baha'is.

A letter dated November 2, 2006, from Payame Noor , an Iranian university, stated that it is Iranian government policy to prevent Baha'is from enrolling in universities and that they must be expelled if discovered to have enrolled.

A confidential letter issued in 2006 by the director general of the Central Security Office of Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology instructs eighty-one Iranian universities to expel any student who is discovered to be a Baha'i. This memo, made public in August 2007, confirms that the expulsion of Baha’i students from Iranian universities is government policy, something the Iranian authorities have repeatedly denied in recent years

The pre-enrollment application form for the entrance examination for technical and vocational institutes for the 2007-08 academic year has a question concerning religion for which the applicant is given only three choices: Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian. If none of the boxes is marked, the form explains, the applicant will be considered Muslim. This effectively bars Baha'is from enrolling.

Students, faculty and academics around the world have been protesting the treatment of Baha'i students in Iran and calling for equitable access to higher education in Iran.

Learn more about these efforts and how you can help.