BEIRUT — Following rumors regarding the state-owned Lebanese University on Tuesday saying it is now going to charge its students in dollars, the Dean of the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Engineering Rafic Younis said that the dollar tuition fee does not apply to any major except the specialized Master's degrees at the Engineering Faculty.
Here’s what we know:
• A contract professor at the faculty of engineering of the Lebanese University told L’Orient Today these specialized Master’s degrees include urbanism, theater design and landscaping.
• Younis told Tarbia Gate news outlet on Tuesday that the tuition for specialized masters was proposed in dollars “on the condition of it getting paid on Banque du Liban’s Sayrafa rate.”
• The Dean also said that “there was no change in the tuition fees in the first five years of the degree which qualifies students to earn the degree and to join the Syndicate of Engineers.” He also said that these specialized Master's degrees are for one year and is optional.
• “These measures lie within the policy of the university of becoming a productive one,” he said, adding that it could “secure an additional income for the university without affecting the students in their years leading to graduation.”
• The Lebanese University had taken the decision in October 2021 to collect tuition fees in “fresh” dollars from international students at the official exchange rate. Individuals who were not affected by this decision were students with a Lebanese citizenship, as well as Syrians and Palestinians residing in Lebanon.
• Some private universities in Lebanon, including the American University of Beirut, have announced transitioning to collecting tuition fees in fresh dollars or their equivalent at the parallel market rate starting the next academic year.