The main gate of the American University of Beirut. (OLJ)
BEIRUT — Students at the American University of Beirut learned Tuesday morning that their tuition next semester will effectively more than double, putting earning a degree from one of the region’s most prestigious universities in jeopardy for many.
At around 10 a.m., students received an email from university president Fadlo Khuri informing them that they would now be asked to pay their tuition fees at an exchange rate of LL3,900 to the dollar, rather than at LL1,515.
“This is totally unacceptable,” a 19-year-old biology student, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid jeopardizing her studies, told L’Orient Today. The cost of her studies at medical school, which she should be starting next year, at a base rate of $40,000 per year, will more than double from LL60 million to LL156 million.
“My parents, who are both Lebanese and paid in Lebanese lira won’t be able to continue paying for my education [at AUB],” she added.
The university is one of the oldest and most illustrious in the Middle East, viewed by many as a college for the children of Lebanon’s elite. It has the largest endowment of any university in Lebanon: $769 million at the end of 2019.
However, a year of compounded economic, financial and political crises and a decrease in income have left the university struggling to survive, Khuri told journalists at a press briefing ahead of the official announcement on Monday afternoon.
“We are taking difficult steps with the aim of putting the most vulnerable members of our community first,” he said, arguing that the university had already “stripped back everything non-essential.”
In July, hundreds of staff from the university and its affiliated hospital, AUBMC, were laid off. When they protested outside the hospital, they were met by a deployment of soldiers from the Lebanese Army.
AUBMC raised the prices of some of its medical services in line with the LL3,900 rate in October, citing skyrocketing costs of supplies and equipment.
“We explored all options before adjusting our tuition rate,” Khuri said, arguing that the move was the only way to retain staff, maintain financial assistance for students in need and ensure the university’s long-term sustainability.
For Lama Jamaleddine, a final-year psychology student and the secretary of the university’s secular club, the decision shows that the administrators, whose salaries students have criticized in the past for being too high and paid in dollars, “do not care about students nor their demands.”
“All they care about is making gains and generating profit,” she added.
The university has been asking students and their families who are able to pay in US dollars to do so, but only around 3 percent of the student body has so far made this choice.
The president renewed his call in his letter to students, asking families with “incomes earned abroad or substantial savings outside Lebanon” to pay in US dollars abroad in return for “the gratitude of the entire community.”
Any tuition paid in fresh dollars, combined with increased revenues in lira generated by the new exchange rate, will contribute to supporting the most vulnerable students, Khuri said. The university is aiming to extend financial assistance to support 60 percent of the student body.
But financial support, students told L’Orient Today, is not always easy to come by thanks to a complex application process that takes into consideration both ability to pay and student talent.
Khuri’s letter to the students said the university would be sending out further information at a later date on how to access aid.
Since the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, 250 students have withdrawn from their studies on short notice, and 600 students due to enroll decided to leave the country altogether, Khuri said.
The price hike will likely lead more students to make the tough decision to abandon their studies.
“This will have a colossal impact on students … given the crippling economic crisis and rise in prices of goods,” Jamaleddine said. “Many students will likely be forced to drop out or transfer.”
Majd al-Jurdi is in his second year in medical school. He gets 25 percent financial aid but was already “barely able” to pay for tuition at the rate of LL1,515.
“Now that the rate has more than doubled, there is no way I can keep paying,” he said.
AUB is the first Lebanese university to set the tuition price at a rate other than the official Lebanese lira-US dollar rate, but others may now follow suit.
“Universities are struggling, and I predict others will increase tuition,” Khuri said.
Students from around 10 universities are meeting on Saturday to develop an “action plan” to combat similar moves by other universities and call on the Education Ministry, which had asked universities back in July to charge according to the LL1,515 rate, to intervene.
Meanwhile, AUB students worry for their futures.
“Instead of making it easier,” the biology student said, “AUB is destroying our dreams of having a decent and affordable education.”