Experts say Egypt's ongoing economic woes are causing problems across the country's higher education sector – for both students and academics.
The North African nation's long history of economic problems – including an overvalued currency, growing national debt and failed industrial development – has been exacerbated by the war between Israel and Hamas.
Egypt was supported last month by a significant investment from the United Arab Emirates and a loan from the International Monetary Fund, but the devaluation of the Egyptian pound means many aspects of higher education in the country continue to be affected, according to Manar Sabry, senior deputy director of strategic analysis from SUNY Binghamton University.
“If the devaluation of the Egyptian pound continues, it will become increasingly difficult for families to send their children abroad for education,” she said.
“People only have limited financial resources available to them. But even if you have the means, there are restrictions on paying for your children… that causes a lot of problems.”
Other currencies are difficult to obtain because banks limit the amount of dollars residents can purchase.
As a result, Ms Sabry said, any students wanting to study abroad would have to find a “back door” to do so – usually through a colleague already resident in the host country and exchanging money outside of a bank.
The situation has also made it harder for private institutions to pay their staff – which is usually done in dollars – so they will be forced to increase their tuition fees in Egyptian pounds.
“This will be very expensive for some families because many families are already struggling and are saving all their money,” Ms Sabry said.
“So in Egypt, this will be a serious problem for the Egyptian middle and upper classes.”
Ms. Sabry predicted that some private universities, no longer attracting as many international students as they once did, will have to shrink, merge or even close.
Maha Bali, a professor of practice at the American University in Cairo's Center for Learning and Teaching, said the “economic turmoil” was impacting the cost of participating in research on a global scale.
“The cost of equipment when converted into Egyptian pounds and the cost of travel to conferences have both skyrocketed, making it more difficult for faculty members here to continue conducting and disseminating research,” she added added.
Because the salaries of academics and support staff have not kept pace with inflation, Professor Bali continued, middle and upper-middle class people have traditionally struggled.
Egypt has historically had the problem of its young population being overeducated. Ms Sabry said the current economic situation would only make the situation worse and warned that the country would see postgraduates taking entry-level positions and graduates working in construction.
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