Fate of students on US-funded scholarships hangs in balance

Immediately after taking office, newly elected United States President Donald Trump froze all foreign aid the world over, including for development, health and education, for 90 days to review the effectiveness of the assistance. As a result, Egyptian university students and researchers who are studying using scholarships paid by USAID have found themselves in limbo not knowing the ramifications of the decision on their studies, writes Reem Leila for Ahram Online.

According to the USAID Egypt website: “Over the past four decades, USAID has provided scholarships to more than 4,000 Egyptians to study at premier Egyptian and American universities in fields critical to Egypt’s sustained economic growth and development.” But Trump’s decision has sparked widespread concern across academic circles, with many urging the government to find alternatives to sustain these vital programmes.

Adel Abdel-Ghaffar, the spokesman of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the issue is being studied and that measures will be taken to safeguard the interests of affected students along with researchers. “The affected number of students is around 800 in universities of Cairo, Ain Shams, Alexandria, Assiut, Mansoura, Badr, Zewail City of Science, Technology and Innovation, Al-Alamein International, the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, and the American University in Cairo,” Abdel-Ghaffar said.
Full report on the Ahram Online site