Recent interest in refugee integration in the international refugee regime reflects the view that economically empowered refugees can support community development in their host societies by bringing their skills, agency, and human labour to galvanise the local economy. While much of the research on ways to support refugee integration has focused on humanitarian funding, and the role of national government and host societies, in recent past, the role of higher education institutions is increasingly recognized. This paper employed thematic analysis of qualitative data gathered from 40 Ivorian youth refugees living in the Fetentaa refugee camp Ghana, and 10 interviews with administrative and academic staff of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana to explore the potential role that higher education institutions can play in promoting youth refugee integration. It is evident that in addition to the pre-migration lifestyle of the refugees characterized by extreme complications both in terms of their sense of personal wellbeing (fear, anxiety, personal attack) as well as loss of asset (personal belongings and family members), two broad integration challenges, revolving around their access to social services and refugee-host communities’ interactions, emerged. Three key roles that the university can play in promoting refugee integration emerged: (i) direct provision of access to higher education; (ii) knowledge production about the integration challenges faced by refugees, using evidence to inform policy decisions and public discourse around refugee integration; and (iii) provision of extension services in entrepreneurship training and counselling sessions/education for traumatized youth refugees. These findings have important implications for policy and public discourse on provision of durable solutions aimed at addressing the integration challenges faced by refugees and thereby ensuring that they are not left behind by 2030.