Studying abroad has become restrictively expensive in recent years: For the past two years, Egypt’s universities and students have faced FX shortages, rising inflation, and a weakening local currency that have made the costs of studying abroad not just unreachable for many students, but also unpredictable with the volatile parallel market often being the only place that you could source FX. Now that the float of the EGP earlier this month seems to have done away with much of the unpredictability of the exchange rate and opened up access to FX through official channels, higher education insiders tell us how universities are looking to adapt — albeit still expensive — study abroad programs to adjust to the rise in prices and the new normal for the EGP.

Study abroad programs? Study abroad programs allow students to spend a semester or more studying at a partner university abroad. University heads we’ve spoken to agree that study abroad programs have been very popular among Egyptian students over the past years and have even prompted the government to implement an internationalization strategy in part designed to bring international universities to Egypt in a bid to stop the FX outflows by persuading Egyptian students to stay put.

Studying abroad is expensive, but it comes with upsides: Despite the high costs, study abroad programs provide students with contact with different cultures, travel, and the chance to learn from academics at institutions abroad, Nahda University President Hossam El Malahi told Enterprise. El Malahi added that he has noticed changes in the thinking of Nahda University students returning from universities abroad.

Some universities have increased support to share rising costs over the last few years:Private institution Nahda University now bears students’ accommodation and studying for two weeks at its partner institution Vienna University as well as at Badya University’s partner Texas University, El Malahi told Enterprise. Students are currently expected to pay USD 650-700 as part of their tuition fees in addition to the costs of their flights, but arrangements may change by the time they finalize upcoming study abroad programs in June, El Malahi added.

And additional support is also given to outstanding students who are unable to afford a study abroad program through the issuing of full scholarships, El Malahi told us.

But the risk of future unpredictability in the exchange rate still worries some universities:Three of the university presidents we spoke to said that study abroad programs are still organized around the understanding that the EGP / USD exchange rate has not stabilized and fees that students pay will be based on the exchange rate at the time of travel. A number of presidents also told us that study abroad programs could be suspended until costs are more consistent.

Shorter study abroad programs? Studying abroad is expensive for those looking to study a full semester at a university abroad, with a semester’s cost reaching up to USD 8k, a source at a private university told Enterprise. Private universities will likely consider introducing separate shorter programs at a lower cost, the source added.

FX inflows from foreign students in Egypt ease some of the pressure: Funding study abroad programs would be a lot more difficult without foreign students studying in Egypt bringing in FX, El Malahi told us. Nahda University has a good number of foreign students who pay their fees in foreign currency, which has been used to support the continuity of study abroad programs, easing pressure on the university, which itself pays for these programs in FX, El Malahi added. Efforts by the Madbouly government have attracted some 25k foreign students to public and private universities, increasing FX inflows into the education sector, the unnamed private university source told us in a separate discussion.

The weaker EGP is also prompting African and Arab students to flock to our universities:The weakening EGP could actually be a boon to our plans to become a hub for international students, and this is already evident through the rise of GCC students’ enrollments in Egyptian universities over the past two years, one university president told us.

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