International Enrollment Plummets Amidst Political Turmoil
By: Khaled Morshedy
Enrollment of international students at AUC is plunging, with more than 50 percent of exchange students cancelling their registration for the Fall 2013 academic term.
Laila El Sawy, director of the Arabic Language Instruction department, said only two students came to study at AUC out of a total of 30 who were initially registered to study Arabic this fall.
Egypt’s deteriorating security situation is not the only reason behind diminishing interest in AUC. The New Cairo campus is another factor affecting the decision of international students. “Students who study Arabic prefer to stay in the Zamalek dorms, only a few stay in the new campus,” said El Sawy adding that students feel “isolated” in the new campus. They come here to interact with Egyptians, she added.
Although some students deferred their registration to next semester, El Sawy believes that they might not come to Egypt after all as the situation is still the same. “When they see in the media that tanks are on the streets and hear about a coup happening in the country, it becomes impossible for foreign students to study in Egypt,” she said.
El Sawy added that some universities ban their students from studying in Egypt. “Foreign media played a role in intimidating foreigners from coming to Egypt,” El Sawy said.
Ahmed Salah was an AUC exchange student at the University of Washington in Seattle during the Spring 2013 semester. During his stay there, UW sent him an email asking him to contact two students who were interested in studying at AUC this fall. However, following the dispersal of the Rabaa’ sit-in last summer, UW prohibited the students from studying in Egypt.
“My friends were concerned about coming to Egypt but were still willing to study here, until UW blacklisted Egypt,” said Salah. UW was not the only university prohibiting its students from studying in Egypt; all American universities shutdown their exchange programs with AUC.
According to Soha Mohamed of AUC’s International Programs Office, not a single American exchange student studied in Egypt this fall. But the political unrest didn’t discourage several foreign students from resuming their studies at AUC.
Jade Lansing, a graduate student at AUC, said it’s an exciting time to study in Egypt particularly for someone who is interested in politics and sociology.
Lansing said that very few circumstances would make her leave Egypt. “Harassment and xenophobic rhetoric are frustrating and disturbing, but not enough to make me leave the country,” Lansing added.
“I wasn’t scared at all,” said Iain Tutwiler, an American graduating senior studying Sociology at AUC. Tutwiler who checked where Rabaa square was, found out that it was far from where he lived and decided to continue studying at AUC.
“I don’t live near Tahrir Square, so I didn’t have tear gas all over my face,” said Tutwiler who added that transferring to other universities would cost him 50 percent of his credit hours, so he had to continue his sociology studies at AUC.
Arman Ali who studies Arab and Islamic Civilization at AUC, said he moved to Egypt more than two years ago. “The 25th of January Revolution pushed me to come to Egypt as I felt there was a need to understand the Arab world a bit better,” said Ali adding that he didn’t fear the political instability in Egypt, but feared mostly for his family who visits every now and then.
Although the shortage of fuel at gas stations and lack of ATMs bothered Ali, he said he never thought of leaving AUC. “The only real reason I would leave at this point is if there is a direct danger to my life or the life of my family, or if there are more opportunities for study elsewhere,” Ali added.
