Students protest at AUB on April 19, when a protest erupted after AUB rose its tuition fees from LL3,900 to LL8,000. (Credit: Mohamed El Chamaa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The American University of Beirut announced Wednesday a gradual “transition to collecting tuition fees in fresh dollars – or their equivalent” starting in the academic year 2022-2023.
Here’s what we know:
• “It has become necessary for AUB to collect tuition fees in the same currency it must pay its expenses,” university President Fadlo Khuri said in statement addressed to the members of the AUB community, adding, “AUB has been operating at a loss, totaling over $134 million over the past three years,” leading to the exhaustion of its contingency funds.
• Khuri said the transition would be “gradual,” promising 40 percent financial assistance “for a large majority of students,” for the 2022 to 2023 academic year and 20 percent for the year after, in addition to any other grants they currently receive.
• On April 19, a protest erupted on the AUB campus in response to an anticipated doubling of tuition fees, increasing the 3,900 Lira exchange rate adopted by AUB to 8,000. Three days later, AUB issued an official warning to the university’s Secular Club, which had co-organized the protest, for “the posting of unauthorized published materials,” in reference to posters disseminated by the club objecting to the tuition hike.