AUC Offers Fifteen Scholarships for Thanawiya Amma Students

There are fifteen vacant scholarships offered by The American University in Cairo (AUC) to thanawiya amma students in Fall 2021. The main aim of providing these scholarships is to provide academically outstanding students who cannot afford AUC education with a chance to be equipped with the quality of education that enables them to create positive change in their future, Egypt, and the world.

"Scholarships are mainly about unlocking potential and creating opportunities for talented students,” says Magda Fayek, interim executive director at the Office of Student Financial Affairs and Scholarships. “It is a life-changing experience that takes a student on a journey of hard work, commitment and resilience. It paves the way for students to be successful not only in their studies but also in their life.

Scholarship support for outstanding students with financial need is among AUC's top priorities. About 40.2 percent of AUC students receive financial assistance from the University. AUC offers more than 118 named scholarships for undergraduate students supported by individuals or corporations. During Fall 2020, more than 570 students received full and partial scholarships, and more than 1730 students received financial aid.

The Public School Scholarship Fund (PSSF), one of AUC's most successful scholarship programs, offers full-tuition scholarships each year for public school students to study at AUC. Since its inception in 1990, the PSSF has graduated more than 340 students — more than 77 percent with honors (students who have demonstrated exceptional academic potential and come from different corners of Egypt). Applicants should be Egyptian students graduating from public schools, experimental schools, or (STEM), or Egyptian International Certificate Education (EICE) certificate holders. They should have an outstanding secondary school academic record, demonstrate financial need, and meet AUC admission requirements. This year the University will offer the scholarship to 30 students.

USAID AUC Merit Award (UAMA) is a partial scholarship funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program provides an excellent opportunity for students from different Egyptian governorates who possess outstanding academic qualifications, demonstrate high financial need and come from the Egyptian public schools to pursue a premier education at AUC. Candidates who qualify for this scholarship will be selected from the Egyptian public school scholarship applicants.

Also, AUC offers AUC Liberal Arts Scholarship, which provides 20 full scholarships to students who are committed to majoring in liberal arts at AUC (10 of those are under the public-school scholarship fund)

Undergraduate students from Upper Egypt also have outstanding scholarship opportunities at AUC through Empower and Orascom Construction Scholarship.  Empower scholarship provides five full and/or partial annual scholarships to outstanding thanawiya amma graduates from five governorates in Upper Egypt: Assiut, Beni Suef, Minya, Sohag, and Fayoum. Orascom Construction Scholarship provides full-tuition annual scholarships to public or private high school graduates from eight governorates in Upper Egypt: Assiut, Beni Suef, Minya, Sohag, Fayoum, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan, to pursue an undergraduate degree in economics at AUC.

The Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Scholarship Fund also fully supports Egyptian students who come from Egyptian suburbs. Selection is based on the student's academic merit and financial need.

Other scholarships include Mohamed Bin Abdulkarim A. Allehedan Endowed Scholarship and Scientific Research Fund that offers scholarships based on merit and financial need to students interested in studying in the fields of fundamental science such as mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, energy, and petroleum, water and environment, economics and development. Besides, Omnia Abdullah Bakhsh '98 Endowed Scholarship fully supports one student majoring in any engineering field, where selection is also based on student's academic merit and financial need.

Wadi Degla Endowed Scholarship Fund for Student-Athletes fully supports one Egyptian student who demonstrates an outstanding secondary school academic record and an outstanding record, locally or internationally, in one of the following sports: soccer, squash, basketball, swimming, or track and field. AUC Alumni Endowed Scholarship was stablished in 1983 to partially support Egyptian and Arab children of AUC alumni. Selection is based on the student's academic merit and financial need. The Hosna Rachid Partial Scholarship partially supports the tuition and fees of two Egyptian students (a male and a female) majoring in any discipline. The student should demonstrate sufficient merit and financial need.

AUC offers Athletic and Cultural scholarships targeting students who excel academically and in other areas such as artistic talent, cultural activities, and athletic achievement. 

In addition, AUC offers opportunities to students with disabilities such as Sawiris Undergraduate scholarship for Disabilities; the University initiated it with the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development to expand the pool of opportunities offered to academically outstanding students with disabilities by admitting them to AUC to create a nationwide network of youth who are well-educated and passionate about their country's development.

The USAID Scholars Activity  which is implemented by The American University in Cairo will be offered for approximately 140 students in the academic year 2021-2022 to pursue bachelor degrees from various Egyptian public and private universities. The program aims to support the economic, social, and environmental development plans in Egypt as it avails opportunities for students to do scientific research that will create a positive and effective impact.