Parents File Lawsuit Against University Over Tuition Spikes

By: Nehal Sharaf and Heba Fouad
@NehalSharaf @Heba_Fouad

The Egyptian Administrative Court released a statement last week postponing its final judgment on the case concerning the dollar portion of AUC’s tuition fees to March 12.

The lawsuit was brought by a group of 60 parents of students against President Ricciardone, the Minister of Education, the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Parliament on February 2.

The submissions of the parents is to fix the dollar percentage of every student’s tuition fees based on the exchange rate on their year of enrolment.

Prior to filing their claims, the parents reached out to the Parents Association (PA), the Student Union (SU) and the University Senate’s Budgetary Committee to negotiate a solution that would satisfy all parties.

“The PA does not take sides nor [does it] highlight a certain opinion of a parent over the other. From this perspective, we [are] closely following up what is happening in the lawsuit raised by a group of parents without taking part in it. If we did so that would mean that we are prioritizing a group of parents’ opinions over the other,” said PA President Aliaa Abdel Ghaffar.

During the hearing, AUC’s appointed lawyer said that the decision to charge tuition fees at a EGP 50 – USD 50 rate is due to the fact that many of the university’s transactions are conducted in dollars.

“The current crisis is a direct result of the Central Bank’s decision to float the Egyptian pound, a decision the university took no part in,” he said.

Following the devaluation of the pound last year, tuition fees nearly doubled.

Whereas the dollar rate was fixed at EGP 8.88 last semester, it is now fluctuating between EGP 15.81 up to EGP 18.37 at the start of the semester.

AUC’s appointed lawyer further added that no one is obliged to actually pay in dollars, but rather the Egyptian pound equivalent of the dollar on the day of payment.

But one of the parents, Khaled Abdelwahed, however, was quick to deny this and presented receipts and documents proving that he had just paid half his child’s tuition in actual dollars.

“[The PA] even asked the university administration to show us their expenses to see just how much of it is really paid in dollars. And there is nothing to prove that these dollar expenses are disproportionate; in fact, they do not appear to exceed five percent. They should not force Egyptian students to cover the cost of paying salaries to Egyptian faculty in dollars,” said Ola El-Mandouh, one of the parents.

Sayed el Beheiry, a lawyer appointed by the parents, plead his case by also laying the blame at the Ministry of Education (MoE).

“The MoE decided not to intervene, even though the law related to universities, which is the ministerial decree #271 of the year 2014 clearly states that Egyptian students are to pay tuition fees in Egyptians pounds only,” he said.

El Beheiry further plead that the tuition spikes violate a decision issued previously by the Council of Private and Nonprofit Universities, which states that tuition is to increase at a maximum of five percent annually and is only applicable to newly enrolled students at private and non-profit universities.

The University has resorted to an Emergency Tuition Grant to help struggling students finish out the year. The Grant relocates $5 million from the 2016-2017 budget to fully cover the costs anticipated for all families requiring grants to meet the additional Egyptian pounds needed for this year’s tuition.

The Emergency Grant, however, did not appeal to many, as it was perceived as a short term solution.

“The reason we decided to resort to a lawsuit is because all the solutions put forth by the university were always short term solutions that will not benefit our children in the upcoming years. We want to guarantee that a long term solution will be put into effect and benefit us more in the upcoming years,” said Seyam.

“The long term decision regarding the fees has not been decided yet. A meeting will be held in March, where the Board of Trustees will approve the budget so we will know what our tuition will be and we will know the options for parents as well,”said Sohair Saad, executive director of the Office of Student Financial Affairs and Scholarships.