BEIRUT: American University of Beirut Tuesday announced that students will have to pay tuition fees at the LL3,900 to the dollar exchange rate starting the next academic semester, throwing students into uncertainty just as they undergo final exams of the year.
AUB President Fadlo Khuri delivered the news to students, expressing in a statement that the decision had been made for the financial survival of AUB. He revealed the adjustment was made with great reluctance and he regrets the difficulty it will cause for large numbers of our student body.
The new exchange rate for tuition payments will be matched to the Central Banks electronic exchange platform, set at LL3,900 for $1. Until now, students were paying fees at LL1,515 to the dollar, the Central Banks official pegging.
The university had warned back in June that the change in tuition pricing would at some stage be necessary due to the difference between the tuition revenue received in Lebanese pounds and the expenses paid in hard currency.
Students will now be expected to pay fees 2.6 times higher than before, an effective 160 percent hike. For example, medical school students, who pay as much as $40,000 per year will see their fees rise to around LL160 million per year at the new arrangement.
The university has a prestigious reputation in Lebanon and across the Middle East, but this is not the first time this year it has expressed financial troubles. In July, the AUB laid off some 1,500 staff members citing money concerns.
Lebanon has been reeling from a financial crisis that has caused the pound to lose 80 percent of its value, causing inflation and reducing spending power. Although the official dollar to Lebanese pounds exchange rate is 1,500, trading on the black market has witnessed the lira plummeting around LL8,000 against the dollar. This has in turn caused the cost of living to sky rocket with as many as 50 percent of the population pushed below the poverty line.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has also damaged businesses and caused a global economic downturn.
For students at the university, the news has added to a toxic mix of anxieties stemming from a year of multiple crises in Lebanon, including the coronavirus pandemic, economic meltdown and the blast in the port of Beirut in August.
Students have been reporting increasing mental health difficulties and struggling to cope with their studies in such unstable times in Lebanon. Last week, students shut off Bliss Street protesting outside the university entrance, demanding a simplification of the marking system to be more considerate of the current circumstances.
Many today are beginning their final exams of the semester, including one premedical student who spoke to The Daily Star. The 19-year-old student, who declined to give her name, said of the change in tuition fees: This is totally unacceptable; AUB is being insensitive toward its students.
The student revealed that she will be unable to continue her education. She had hopes of applying for medical school, a four-year course. But now she faces a payment of LL625 million to gain her qualification. She explained her father, who pays for her tuition, is paid in Lebanese pounds at the LL1,515, the case for most AUB students.
We are already affected by the economic crisis and instead of making it easier AUB is destroying our dreams of having a decent and affordable education.
In a statement explaining the decision, Khuri said higher education has been crippled by Lebanons crises, citing a severe decline in revenue from tuition and medical care for the institutions action. As well as the cessation of nonemergent aid to Lebanon beyond disaster relief and pandemic support he added.
Khuri revealed they have been asking students who have access to dollars, as many as 40 percent of the body, to pay their tuition in dollars to supplement those who cannot.
We have already requested twice [to the 40 percent] to pay fees in dollars (either in or outside Lebanon) but only 3 percent of tuition bills have been settled in dollars at the full rate.
Khuri himself is reported to receive an annual six-figure pay package in dollars, while academics and staff are paid in LBP.
The 154-year-old institution has strived to maintain a commitment to socio-economic diversity among students. It offers an extensive scholarship to academically qualified students and aid packages to those financially in need.
Even before Tuesdays announcement, cracks had already appeared in the universitys financial aid system. Speaking to The Daily Star, Majd al-Jurdi, a 22-year-old medical student on a bursary, revealed that he was unable to access an additional loan to cover 10 percent of his fees. He said he chose to study at AUB because of its renowned high quality of learning, but is only able to study there thanks to the financial support program.
Jurdi has received a 25 percent aid package for his studies; yet he could barely afford to pay last year. He applied for a loan from the bank, worth 10 percent of his fees, through the university. But due to the countrys banking crisis that support system was scrapped this year, leaving Jurdi at a loss.
Medical students are unable to transfer their degrees to another institution and Jurdi is five years into his seven-year degree, but he has no option to continue studies elsewhere. If we just leave now we will have paid years of already expensive education, plus all the hard work and all the mental distress weve been through.
Do you know how much depression medical students go through? He added, while mentioning the impact of the Beirut explosion, economic devastation, and health pandemic on the students. We are already depressed and barely keeping up with the requirements. I dont know how much we can handle.
The university has counseling centers to support those with mental health difficulties, but Jurdi conceded he did not think there were enough psychologists to meet the demand.
Students have been taking their degrees remotely, with all classes and lectures moved online because of the governments coronavirus measures in place since March. This had already caused students to voice concern that they are not receiving value for their money compared to face-to-face teaching.
This semester was really exhausting, Marya Samrout, a 19-year-old first-year economics student told The Daily Star. We self-study our courses; my professor puts the power points online Sunday and then we have a week to study each chapter alone ... work is mentally exhausting.
Now the news of the fee change has thrown the adequacy of online teaching further into question for students. I am going to be paying LL50 million a semester to still be sitting at my desk, using my own WI-FI, my own food, my own books. Samrout concluded.
Samrout was studying for an exam at the time of speaking to The Daily Star; exams which she revealed have been made harder since remote learning began. She explained professors informed students that tests would be tougher this year to fail safe for the potential to cheat at home.
I didnt really choose to remain home and take exams at home. Its stressful, I cant manage, she added.
For many young Lebanese, gaining a degree alongside a solid education has been regarded as a gateway to a future abroad. But now the financial crisis has seeped into one of Lebanons most respected academic institutions, the education of acountrys youth has been thrown into disarray.
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