The American University in Cairo received a grant of US$85 million – the second largest in its history – from the United States Agency for International Development in Egypt to support the “USAID Partnerships for Educational Progress” educational development program.
The new five-year program, led by the AUC, aims to strengthen and develop higher education in Egypt through knowledge and capacity building to better focus on the country’s development priorities more effectively.
This grant comes shortly after the USAID granted the AUC the largest grant in its history, amounting to $86 million, to support the USAID Egyptian Pioneers program.
This makes the AUC the largest body implementing the agency’s higher education projects across Egypt.
The Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the AUC, Professor Ehab Abdel-Rahman, said that, “The USAID partnerships program for educational development is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, American and Egyptian higher education institutions, and the private sector.”
He added that this program accelerates the ministry’s vision to transform public universities in Egypt into modernized, world-class educational centers, which are linked to market needs and feature the latest state-of-the-art technology and scientific resources.
The vision also aims to prepare Egypt’s students and link them to the work force, Abdel-Rahman said.
He noted that the group participating in the partnerships program consists of 12 higher education institutions, both governmental and private.
