AUC Provides More Than USD 23 Million in Financial Assistance to Students

The American University in Cairo (AUC) has allocated over $23 million to provide students with a wide range of scholarships and financial assistance to help them in meeting the expenses of their education this academic year. According to Sohair Saad, executive director of the Office of Student Financial Affairs and Scholarships, over 45 percent of AUC students receive some form of financial assistance, either through scholarships or financial aid. “AUC is committed to offering a wide range of scholarships to students to provide them with an education that empowers them to create positive change in Egypt and the world,” said Saad. As for financial aid, AUC expects to provide needs-based financial aid to over 2000 undergraduate students for the Fall Semester of 2017.  Around 100 new students were accepted in full-tuition scholarships this year in programs that include the Public School Scholarship Fund (PSSF); Empower Scholarship; Al Ghurair, Khalaf El Habtoor, Orascom Construction (OC) Scholarship, Mohamed Bin Abdulkarim A. Allehedan Endowed Scholarship and Scientific Research Fund, the USAID-funded Local Scholarship Program and other institutionally funded and donor/sponsor funded scholarships. Many scholarships are offered to students with special qualifications, such as academic, athletic or cultural/ artistic talent and who demonstrate high financial need. AUC offers 66 types of undergraduate scholarships covered by the university and/or external individuals and corporations in order to assist students in meeting the expenses of their education. For this academic year, AUC also offered five top students from Assiut, Beni Suef, Menya, Sohag and Fayoum governorates in Upper Egypt the opportunity to pursue an AUC undergraduate education in the major of their choice through the Empower Scholarship. Empower scholarship is open to students from both public and private high schools who have demonstrated involvement in civil society or community service, as well as a history of academic excellence.  The University's Public School Scholarship Fund (PSSF), which is partially supported through the contribution of corporations and individuals, has been one of AUC’s most successful scholarship programs. PSSF scholarships provide funding annually for 20 new undergraduate students who have succeeded academically and have graduated from Egyptian public schools but do not have the financial resources to attend AUC.  Effective this academic year, Experimental and STEM schools are also included in the scholarship. “Since the establishment of this program in 1990, it has provided more than 365 students with the opportunity to study at AUC. In fact, more than 55 percent of these students have graduated with distinction, receiving honors, high and highest honors,” noted Saad, “This year we are proud that AUC selected students from 15 different governorates.”