AUC Students Receive Emergency Scholarships for Spring 2017

Almost half of currently enrolled undergraduate students at The American University in Cairo (AUC) will be receiving the university emergency scholarships at the beginning of the Spring 2017 semester. These include 346 students who have applied and are eligible to receive the award, in addition to 1,487 students who are currently receiving financial aid and have been automatically considered for and awarded the emergency scholarships. Pending completion of their documents, another 182 undergraduate students may also be eligible to receive the emergency scholarships. Since the announcement of this program142 graduate students have also applied for the emergency tuition scholarship.Following the decision to float the Egyptian pound in early November 2016, AUC’s Board of Trustees authorized an emergency budget re-allocation of about $1 million to cover all those who had been unable to make their final tuition payments for the fall semester. In addition, on an emergency basis, the University reallocated up to $5 million from the current budget to fully cover the costs anticipated for all families needing support in facing the unanticipated additional Egyptian pounds required for the balance of this year’s tuition. For students who applied but failed to submit their emergency scholarship applications or whose applications are pending missing documents, the Office of Student Financial Affairs and Scholarships extended the deadline to January 26, as recommended by the Parents Association and Student Union. An email with this information was sent to students and parents. The emergency scholarship is meant to cover the difference in the Spring 2017 tuition resulting from the floatation of the Egyptian pound for students with demonstrated need. Disbursement of the fund is contingent upon completing the registration process for the Spring 2017 semester and submitting all of the application’s required documents. Sohair Saad, executive director of the Office of Student Financial Affairs and Scholarships, noted, “We are very pleased to have been able to offer this financial support to AUC’s students during these challenging economic times,” she said. “In the coming few weeks, we will continue to review undergraduate applications of those who are currently completing their documents, in addition to all graduate applications, in order to ensure AUC President Francis Ricciardone’s promise that no student will have to drop out of AUC due to an inability to pay tuition.” In addition to the institutional support that AUC has offered, several donors have generously donated to help students during this difficult economic time. Mark Turnage, a member of AUC’s Board of Trustees, donated to the pooled emergency tuition scholarship fund. “I donated to the emergency fund in recognition of the very real sacrifices made by our students as a result of the devaluation of the Egyptian pound,” he said. “Both as an institution and as individuals, we should do everything we can to allow our students to continue to focus on their studies, even in the face of difficult circumstances.” Honoring their late mother, AUC alumna Nevine Loutfy ’74, brothers Assem Raouf Abdel Hady (MBA ’16) and Omar Raouf Abdel Hady established the Nevine Loutfy Memorial Emergency Scholarship Fund, to which they generously donated. “There was an urgent need for families that were struggling with the school's fees in light of the recent currency floatation,” said Omar. “This donation will reach those who need and deserve it most, and the value of an AUC education is, in my opinion, priceless.”