UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1989-11_Page-011

President's Report h~3 November, 1989 We were also able to assist three other American educational efforts in Egypt through this process. In consultation with the Ambassador I included a provision for L.E. 20 million for a second endowment to support activities of the Fulbright Commission, Chicago House, and ARCE. It also has been adopted. We deliberately did not inform those institutions until the last minute, as we were not sure this part of the legislation would succeed and also did not want anyone else to lobby. But we now have told them, ' and they, of course, are pleased. Fall Enrollment Freshman and ELI enrollment this fall was a stressful period - certainly for parents but also for AUC. A number of factors were involved. Our tuition, low for the U.S., is high for Egypt. The economy is tight. We are admitting one-third more (800 vs 600) than we were two years ago. The Minister of Education was almost daily changing the rules for admission to the National Universities, thus causing great confusion among parents. And admission to excellent faculties in the National Universities suddenly became relatively easier (AUC's minimum score is 65, but a secondary school score as low as 68 this year qualified students for (free) Engineering at Cairo University; three years ago it was 85). So three days before classes started we only had some 550 registrations against a quota of 800. At that point we were worried both about finances and whether we were achieving our growth objectives. Two days after classes started we had 650 students, and a week later 780. We will clearly top 800 in February and probably get close to the full target (including offset for attrition) of 880. Why we had so big a problem three days in advance and such a strong solution a week after classes started we do not yet know. My own guess is that a number of parents were worried about the tuition level, so held off. But when they finally had to decide not to send their children to AUC they decided that it was worth it after all. But that is speculation. We plan to initiate a stronger recruitment effort this year, both in Egypt and abroad, in hopes of avoiding a similar difficult situation next year. When you cannot predict enrollment accurately (in a university now 70% dependent on tuition) and when you have made salary and hiring decisions in the spring but only know enrollment in the fall, you are running a significant risk. Total enrollment exceeded 3600 this fall (about 150 more than we expected). Year abroad, graduate, and non-degree students, as well as undergraduates, increased. But Arabic language (with CASA and ALU) was again down