Ever since the end of the civil war in 1989, educational reform has been a key-concern in Lebanese efforts of dealing with the trauma of recent history and the strengthening of social cohesion. But reform is slow and fraught with controversy. The school subjects of history and civics remain particularly contested, as illustrated by the failure of creating a standardized textbook on Lebanese history. Conflicting historical narratives make public Lebanese memory a national taboo (Nehme 2006). This public “historical amnesia” accentuates the need for new and alternative social spaces and public discourses, challenging the politicized memory discourses of particular groups (Haugbolle 2012). Lasting reconciliation and reconstruction requires “the recovery of public spheres and common spaces that encourages new forms of engagement and encounter” (Larking 2009). Not least, apart from the content of curricula and textbooks, educational reform highlights the question of access. Currently, significant populations remain disconnected from quality education. Consequently, for children and youth growing up in Palestinian refugee camps, school becomes de-centralized as a site of construction of civics and identity (Finchham 2012). This underscores the importance of alternative, informal efforts and the coordination of stakeholders involved in education and upbringing (National Conference on Special Needs Education, 2009). It also requires child- and youth centered research. Most literature addresses education systems, but not the actual experiences of the young. This shortage opens for universalizing and generalizing statements about young persons in refugee camps as inherently subject to “traumatization”, “victimization” or “vulnerability”. It calls for further research “that seeks to understand how vulnerability – as a condition – is produced and mitigated” (Hart 2006). This paper presents preliminary results from a research project on Palestinian youth from refugee camps, currently taking part in NGO programs financing university education. What are the experiences, expectations and concerns of the youth benefitting from such programs? How does university education relate to other sites of learning and development, and how do students relate education to upbringing and background? How do students handle class mobility vis-à-vis community peers and family? Based on interviews with students, NGO representatives and university teachers, this paper discusses the ability of such initiatives to create new social arenas and opportunities for individual development. To what extent may informal educational projects be instrumental in circumventing and counteracting the barriers upholding Lebanese historical amnesia in general, and the victimization of Palestinian youth in particular?