In 15 days, private universities will begin pricing their tuition fees for the upcoming academic year, or Fall 2022, with it being confirmed that the majority of university administrations will adopt a plan of "partial dollarization," after agreeing on the details with boards of trustees. Under the pretext of "saving the institution" and addressing the current crisis, students are bearing the brunt of covering the majority of the universities' losses. While universities are still exploring options to issue their final decisions, the Lebanese American University has opted for full dollarization of all tuition fees, and the American University of Beirut is also moving towards gradual "full dollarization" (60% of the tuition in dollars at the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year, increasing to 80% the following year, eventually reaching 100%).
**30% at the Jesuit University**
So far, the president of the Lebanese University Association and Saint Joseph University, Salim Dekash, has not been informed of any new "pricing" decisions from universities, but the atmosphere suggests, as he stated, that "there is no escaping dollarization, which should not exceed 30% at the Jesuit University and others. The goal is only to manage affairs as smoothly as possible and cover two main items: general expenses (diesel, electricity, water...), and information technology (educational programs, electronic library, computer maintenance, data server changes, etc.), which represents between 22% and 25% of university budgets."
Dekash spoke about the significant difficulty in addressing the new crisis without dollarization, noting that the cost of diesel consumption at the Jesuit University has risen by 400%. "Where we used to pay $250,000 a year, the amount now approaches $2.5 million, and the situation is similar at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital."
**Between Professors and Students**
Notably, Dekash mentioned that the university has lost 20% of its teaching staff due to the purchasing power of salaries decreasing by 90%, which opens the door to all possibilities to retain professors while not losing students at the same time. According to Dekash, all universities have resorted to offering discounts on tuition fees and doubling financial aid by 50% to 70%, noting that one-third of students at universities affiliated with the association receive assistance.
The most significant justification from university administrations for "dollarization" is that they will not let students leave their seats due to their inability to pay tuition fees. They have also reinforced scholarship and financial aid programs that start at 10% and reach up to 95% in some cases, depending on the living conditions of each student, as the management of the Lebanese American University stated in one of its announcements. However, Dekash clarified that universities following the American system receive more support and funding than others, enabling them to assist students more effectively.
**Balamand University Hesitant**
The president of Balamand University, Elias Waraq, told "Al-Akhbar" that the final decision on the pricing will be made before the end of this week, noting that there has been difficulty in "pricing" tuition due to the large fluctuations in the prices of the US dollar. "However, it is certain that some universities, including ours, will not be able to dollarize a significant part of the tuition, so we are currently studying all scenarios to reach an appropriate decision that balances the amount required in fresh dollars for the university's continuity and alleviating the burdens on students."
**American and Lebanese American Universities**
The Lebanese American University "priced" tuition fees for all specializations entirely in US dollars, starting from Fall 2022, justifying this by "the widening gap between what we receive and what we pay in operating expenses and the emigration of qualified professors." In December 2020, the university set its tuition fees at an exchange rate of 3900 lira per dollar, then issued a decision in February 2022 to collect 35% of fees at an exchange rate of 8000 and 65% at 3900. Recently, it decided to convert the value of tuition entirely to dollars, clarifying that the university had not changed its tuition in three years, and what changed was the value of these fees in Lebanese lira according to the exchange rate in the parallel market.
The American University is also heading towards a 40% discount exclusively for students who will receive financial aid, which some students interpreted as meaning that "those who do not receive the grant will have to pay the tuition in full in US dollars," potentially leading to some tuition amounts reaching 450 million lira per semester!
