Most of our students came to India as teenagers, walking across the Himalayas in hopes of getting an opportunity to study. Ironically, they came not seeking a Western, but a solid Tibetan education, which, because of regulations concerning education in Tibet, is actually much more easily obtained in exile.
Our students come from all different regions of Tibet, where their families work primarily as farmers, merchants, or nomads.

The academic curriculum provides a solid Tibetan education including religion, grammar, history, and poetry. However, in the increasingly global community, we recognize the need for knowledge of other cultures, and therefore also teach English and Chinese. The course runs for three years, and during the final year, students compose a thesis on a subject of their choice. After completing the course, students enter the exile community as conscientious members of society, becoming researchers, editors, teachers and writers.

All of our students have great ambitions for the future. Many hope to return to Tibet to share what they have learned with people in their hometowns who have not gotten the opportunities they have, others dream of becoming translators. One student shares that she wants to "help those who are illiterate in all corners of the world, especially this Tibetan generation. I want all Tibetans to get an education and be able to soon stand on their own feet." Students such as these, who are so excited to study and preserve their own culture are a light in what might seem like a sea of darkness. They are a hope and a example for all future generations to come, having the strength and the energy to carry the torch through these difficult times.