LAU Jbeil Campus in August 2021 (Credit: LAU Facebook Page)
BEIRUT - The economic crisis has forced some Lebanese students who left to study abroad to return home to pursue their education, as they no longer have access to the money they or their parents had saved for their overseas studies.
At the same time, the economic crisis has made Lebanon’s universities an attractive option for foreign students.
The two groups of students represent two sides of the economic crisis coin, and their different financial realities make their experiences of student life worlds apart.
“We have just one child and his education has always been our priority. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that we can invest in our son’s future,” Lebanese father Badih Nahas told L’Orient Today.
Nahas, a former consultant, worked for eight years in Saudi Arabia to save up money so he could ensure his only child, Omar, would be able to go to a top university.
Three years ago, his work seemed to have paid off when his son went to France to study at ESA Business School.
The plan was for Omar to get his bachelor’s degree, and then complete his postgraduate degree in France, in hopes of staying on to work abroad.
Instead, Omar, who has just one year left to finish his undergraduate degree, is packing his suitcase to come back to Lebanon with a broken vision for his future.
Receiving higher education abroad has become out of reach for many Lebanese students. Families have been unable to pay tuition since their savings accounts have been frozen by banks since the onset of the present financial crisis in 2019 and the collapse of the Lebanese pound.
This was the case for Omar Nahas’ family.
Last year, Parliament voted on the so-called “student dollar law,” which stipulated that commercial banks must allow account holders to transfer up to $10,000 a year at the official rate of LL1,515 to the dollar to help cover fees and expenses for students who had been studying abroad before 2020-21.
However, the $10,000 limit does not cover all of the costs associated with studying overseas, and the law has not been fully implemented despite recurrent protests from families, as well as the circular from Banque du Liban requesting that commercial banks implement the law in December.
Parliament was scheduled to vote on the law authorizing transfers for the 2021-2022 school year in October, but has not yet done so. At a meeting last Tuesday, the Association of Parents of Students Abroad and MP Bahia Hariri (Future/Saida) agreed to put forward legislation that would criminalize banks' non-compliance with the student dollar rule.
Governments and universities abroad have also taken some special measures to help Lebanese students. In France, for instance, an annual scholarship program, dubbed “Ma’akum (or “with you”) was set up to help exceptional Lebanese students. However, Nahas did not qualify for the assistance, so his family was left to fend for itself.
The elder Nahas said that he has been able to transfer funds only once since the crisis, though his son was in need of more money.
Furthermore, he said, “Even if we were able to actually send the money now, we no longer have it.”
With the money from the one transfer his family was able to make in February of this year, Omar Nahas was able to settle outstanding payments from the previous semester, with the amount that was left he took another semester with a reduced course load; settled his housing payments, and eventually bought his ticket to Lebanon.
Before he received the transfer, Nahas struggled to make ends meet in France, as his course load prevented him from working.
“On some days, I would have been forced to choose between rent and food, had it not been for the food bank,” he said. “It was that bad before my parents were able to send me the latest bank transfer.”
Now, as he prepares to head back to Lebanon, the younger Nahas said he is not sure if he will be able to finance his education, even at a local university.
“I could have continued my education at my current university, since they are offering classes online, but the issue is that I won’t be able to cover the fees,” he said, noting that electricity and connectivity issues in Lebanon would also make studying remotely a challenge.
Nahas’ experience is not unique. Speaking to L’Orient Today, Raed Mohsen, Dean of Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut confirmed that the number of Lebanese students coming from abroad is spiking, as many have been transferring back to Lebanon, although he declined to share specific numbers. Other universities also declined to provide registration data.
Foreign students in Lebanon
While Lebanese students are returning from abroad, Mohsen also noted that many foreign students have now transferred to LAU, “as they are finding it more affordable than universities in their home country.”
Despite — or perhaps because of — the economic collapse, Lebanon is still attractive to many students from abroad.
“I was supposed to leave in August 2020 for my semester abroad in Lebanon,” 24-year-old Josie Tigges, a student of political science at Berlin’s Freie Universität, told L’Orient Today, “but of course I changed my mind because of the COVID situation … and the blast of the port.”
Lebanon’s still-uncertain prospects did not diminish her wish to study in Beirut; Tigges postponed her stay for one year and started her semester abroad at LAU in August 2021.
“I knew things were not going well,” Tigges said, “but I did not quite understand the whole picture.”
As the shortage of medical supplies in Lebanon seemed to sharpen in the days before her planned arrival, “I was really, really worried, but in the end, it did not turn out as bad as German media portrayed the situation.”
Financially, on the other hand, coming to Lebanon as a foreign student nowadays is more feasible than before, as foreign students generally have a supply of dollars, which are currently selling for more than LL24,000 on the parallel market, while most universities in Lebanon including the Lebanese American University are pricing at the rate of LL 3,900 to the dollar. For instance, a political science major, which costs $8,382 per semester can be paid at a rate of LL 32,689,800 per term, which is currently about $1,300 at the parallel market rate.
That was not always the case. As recently as two years ago Lebanon was one of the most expensive options for international students.
In any case, Tigges, whose situation is akin to that of many other foreign students coming for a semester abroad, did not have to worry about tuition fees. She came with “Erasmus+ Weltweit,” a program that covers student fees and additional costs for students during their time abroad.
“I am incredibly privileged here,” Tigges said.
Unlike Omar Nahas, she doesn’t have to worry about her finances while enjoying her time in Lebanon. “I could pay for everything I needed and wanted because I had fresh dollars.”
“Seeing how the people struggle in here and how the politicians destroyed their life, is really hard,” she said. “And to live here as a European woman being incredibly privileged [among] all the people who are not, makes you feel very guilty at times and also a bit lost because you are not sure if it’s right to be here as a foreign student at the moment.”
Tigges shares an apartment with two Lebanese women, where they pay their rent in lira. But many expats coming in with fresh dollars contribute to escalating rental prices in Beirut. They can pay more than the usual market rates, making it more difficult for local students to find affordable rooms or housing options.
“I see the problem,” Tigges said, “but I don’t really know how to handle this issue.”
She said she had thought about leaving, especially after the clashes in Tayyouneh. After speaking to her Lebanese flatmates on that day, “reality really set” in, she said. This is when she realized how bad the situation could become.
However, in the end, she decided to stay anyway.
“Lebanon is still a very beautiful country: The people are just incredibly kind and helpful,” Tigges said. It is the “Lebanese spirit,” she said, that impressed her the most and made her stay in the end. “Despite those difficult times, people here were always happy to help, to show their country and their culture. That was a very unique experience,” she said.
Taking all that into consideration, she still advises other students from abroad to come to Lebanon. “It’s important to experience how great a country like Lebanon can be even in bad times or more precisely how great the people are,” she said.