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PROTEST

'Hundreds' of LAU students protest tuition dollarization

'Hundreds' of LAU students protest tuition dollarization

A group of students Protest on LAU's Beirut campus on April 6, 2022. (Credit: @Akhbaralsaha / Twitter)

BEIRUT — For the second time this week, students of the Lebanese American University protested today against the institution’s decision to collect tuition fees completely in US dollars starting in fall of 2022. The university’s administration announced this decision last week.

Here’s what we know:

    • On its campus in Beirut, the protestors called all the students to follow their steps and boycott classes as they chanted “pack your bags and go home.” A student who attended the protest said that hundreds of students were present.

    • Fatima Makki, 21, who is studying for her MBA at LAU, told L’Orient Today that the students blocked the road to the classes with their bodies and that consequently, some classes were canceled while the protest was taking place. “It’s true that they told us the decision will not be implemented until the next semester, but our parents’ salaries will not increase in this period,” Makki said. “I personally have a degree and I’m working while doing my MBA, but what about those 18-year-olds who just started their degrees and were struck by such a decision,” she added.

    • A video shared on social media showed a security guard from the university trying to stop a photographer from covering the protest.

    • Also on Wednesday, the university reacted to the student’s disapproval in a statement, saying “The increase in financial aid to a record of $100 million will largely offset much of the increase in fees. Students in need of more financial aid will receive more financial aid. In summary, we are doing all we can to retain all students. In addition to financial aid based on need, LAU is also enhancing its scholarship program. Already, the university has issued to-date 45 percent more merit scholarships compared to last year.”

    • On Monday, hundreds of students also protested at the institution’s Beirut campus against the dollarization of the tuition fees.

    • Last week, the president of the university, Michel Elias Mawad, told L’Orient Today that with the Lebanese currency’s constant devaluations, “the economy is moving to dollarization, so we have to collect our revenues in the same currency.”

    • Also last week, Mawad wrote in an email that “to sustain LAU, and continue with our excellent academic standards while addressing LAU’s affordability, LAU has decided 1) to adopt a fresh dollar budget effective fall 2022 to financially sustain the full value of education. 2) To increase the Financial Aid budget to a record of $100 million or more as needed, to support the great majority of students.” 


CORRECTION: A previous version of this article reported that tens of students protested on Monday at LAU's Beirut campus. In fact, turnout at that protests was also in the hundreds.

BEIRUT — For the second time this week, students of the Lebanese American University protested today against the institution’s decision to collect tuition fees completely in US dollars starting in fall of 2022. The university’s administration announced this decision last week.Here’s what we know:     • On its campus in Beirut, the protestors called all the students to follow...