Students sue two universities over tuition hike

Al-Fanar Media 15 August 2021

Students in Lebanon have taken two top universities to court over their decision to adopt a new dollar exchange rate to price tuition. The move resulted in a major increase in what tuition costs and jeopardised the education of many who no longer can afford to complete their degrees, writes Samar Kadi for Al-Fanar Media.

The controversy was triggered earlier this year when the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University decided to price tuition based on an exchange rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the dollar. The nose-diving currency is still officially pegged at 1,500 per dollar but, in late July, it cost more than 23,000 (Lebanese) pounds to buy one dollar on the black market due to Lebanon’s worst economic and financial crisis ever.

The students filed lawsuits when the university threatened to deregister them for failing to settle their fees at the increased rate. Many have made the payments to a notary public according to the original rate, but the bid was rejected by the universities.
Full report on the Al-Fanar Media site.

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