USAID Lebanon: From the American People
 

PRESS RELEASE

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT STUDENTS RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIP ASSISTANCE FROM U.S. GOVERNMENT

Monday, March 29, 2010

Beirut, Lebanon

On March 29, 2010 U.S. Ambassador Michele J. Sison presented a check for $99,354 to American University of Beirut (AUB) President Dr. Peter Dorman for student scholarships. This grant will provide scholarship support for 46 Lebanese students who attend AUB and come from various regions throughout Lebanon.   This check is part the U.S.’s overall $2.7 million scholarship support provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development to AUB.  This money supports more than 800 qualified students with demonstrable financial need, from all over Lebanon, to pursue their higher education at one of the top universities in the Middle East.  Without this assistance, these students would not have been able to study at AUB.
 
During the event, Ambassador Sison also met with a group of AUB students who expressed their appreciation for the U.S. aid that enabled them to pursue their future goals and complete their studies at AUB.  Ambassador Sison emphasized the importance of a quality education that supports American values and applauded the role that AUB in Lebanon has had in developing Lebanon’s future leaders, “The high value placed on education is something that the Lebanese and American people share in common… I can think of no better investment by the United States in Lebanon than in education, in the youth of this country, who constitute the promise of a better tomorrow.”

Over the past ten years, funding from the American people has provided over $19 million in financial support to AUB.  This funding demonstrates the United States’ commitment to building a strong educational foundation for Lebanon’s youth.