American University in Cairo no longer requires tuition in dollar

American University in Cairo has said Tuesday it will now be accepting tuition fees from students entirely in Egyptians pounds, days after a court ruled that the university can no longer require students to pay half their tuition calculated in dollars.

Late last year the families of a group of students filed a case before an administrative court over an increase in tuition fees resulting from the November flotation of the Egyptian pound.

Since 2014, half of the required tuition was fixed in Egyptian pounds, while the other half was to be paid in the local currency but set against the exchange rate of the US dollar.

The flotation of the pound late last year has caused the currency to lose about half of its value against the dollar, sharply driving up prices and putting a burden on those enrolled at some international schools and university that set their tuition to the exchange rate of foreign currencies.

Tuition for international students will continue to be paid in US dollars, the university said.

The university added in the statement that it has increased financial aid for the current academic year (2016-2017) for students “in good academic standing who demonstrate their need,” and has increased the financial aid and scholarship budget for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Source: Ahram online