The American University of Beirut (AUB) announced on Wednesday that it would provide more than $90 million in financial aid to its student in 2021.
The “record amounts” of financial support that the university will give its current and prospective students this year come “as needs increase dramatically due to the economic collapse in Lebanon,” AUB said in a statement.
It said the support is “in line with its strategy over the past 5 years to reduce barriers to students’ access to quality education and to attract the most qualified learners from Lebanon and the world.”
AUB, as did other private universities in Lebanon, recently adopted a higher exchange rate than the official 1,515 Lebanese pounds per U.S. dollar, sparking outrage and protests among its students.
The move came as Lebanon went – and continues to go – through an unprecedented economic crisis that has posed difficult challenges to students across the country.
AUB said in the statement that “the disintegration of the Lebanese economy” that affected it “made it necessary to adjust the dollar exchange rate for tuition fees… in order to be able to continue as a world-class educational and research institution.”
The prestigious university added that during the upcoming Spring Semester, it will distribute $20 million in financial aid to support students whose families struggle to pay tuition fees.
It also said that letters were sent in December to students who are continuing their education, urging them to apply for obtaining an increase in the financial aid for them, and soliciting grant applications from those who had not previously applied for aid or those who had done so unsuccessfully.
