- 12:00
Soaring tuition fees, dollarized universities, and suspended scholarships have turned education in Lebanon into a privilege as costly as a luxury car. Parents are pushed to their limits, students are discouraged, and the price of knowledge has become a national burden.
Back-to-school season in Lebanon has never been more daunting. Several private schools have raised tuition fees by 50 % to more than 120 % for the 2025–2026 academic year, nearly reaching pre-2019 economic collapse levels. At the university level, dollarization has turned tuition into an almost insurmountable challenge. Annual fees at the American University of Beirut (AUB) now approach $29,000. Meanwhile, the suspension of USAID scholarships has left more than 16,000 students without financial support, according to Arab News. Studying in Lebanon has become a grueling challenge, only accessible to the wealthiest.
Between 2024 and 2025, Lebanese parents faced a harsh reality: the cost of education skyrocketed. Calculating tuition now brings the same anxiety as opening a massive utility bill.
At a well-known private school, fees jumped from $7,500 to $11,000, a 47 % increase approaching 2018–2019 levels. At AUB, tuition has been recalculated in dollars, while the Lebanese American University (LAU) raised fees by 5 % for 2024–2025, citing “coverage of costs in dollars,” according to internal sources. One student reported that the cost of a semester has multiplied tenfold, rising from LBP 10 million to roughly 100 million.
Families Face an Unaffordable Barrier
With average monthly salaries of just a few hundred dollars, sending two children to school has become a financial Everest. For many, enrolling a child in university is like signing a luxury car lease, except it is not about driving a sedan but simply attending a class.
The suspension of USAID aid has only worsened the situation, delivering a heavy blow to thousands of students. According to Arab News, more than 16,000 Lebanese students have lost this support. At AUB and LAU alone, around 600 students are directly affected, representing nearly $1.5 million in lost scholarships.
The human impact is clear. “My father earns $1,000 per month. How can I pay for university if I lose my scholarship?” confessed a student to This is Beirut.
In Lebanon today, paying for a child’s education is often harder than earning the degree itself. Education remains a right, but it is increasingly turning into a luxury reserved for those who can afford it.
Comments