Free Syrian University was established in 2013, the institution aims to address the increasing amount of college aged refugees whom lack education as a result of the ongoing Syrian Uprising of 2011. The university is of secular orientation and not affiliated with any particular faith, although it does consist of a College of Sharia, providing undergraduate degrees in Sunni Islamic Law. The university does strongly support the Syrian Revolution, "with both its [the university] name and its mandate from the Free Syrian Legal Authority, a type of clearinghouse organization that proves the organization functions with the blessing of the Free Syrian Army— [which] is directly connected to the armed resistance against the Assad regime."