Mid-term Evaluation of the American University of Afghanistan

The university's first academic year was 2007-2008, and it offers undergraduate programs in business, information technology/computer science, political science and public administration, and law. In 2011, a Master's program in business administration (MBA) was introduced, and three years later, a Master's in Education program was run for the Ministry of Education, with World Bank funding. The university operates the Professional Development Institute (PDI), which provides professional training and certification programs for Afghanistan's growing number of professionals in both the public and private sectors. The PDI has campuses at Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sherif, and Jalalabad. In 2013, the Center for Afghan Women's Economic Development (ICAWED) was opened on the new AUAF International Campus, with the purpose of enhancing women's participation in the economy. Additionally, a Business Innovation Hub (BIH) was established on the new campus to provide high-quality business management and leadership services to Afghan companies. A five-year cooperative agreement was signed between USAID and AUAF in 2013, covering the period August 1, 2013, to July 31, 2018, with a total estimated cost of $40 million. The agreement was increased in September 2015 to $45,902,538.00 and extended the end date to November 30, 2019. The funds made available through this agreement cover a significant proportion of faculty and international staff salaries and various operating costs and security costs. The purpose of USAID funding is to support the permanent establishment of an American-style university in Afghanistan that will imprint values of academic freedom, high-quality instruction, research, academic honesty, work ethic, and community service to its graduates joining the national and international labor force. The evaluation of AUAF's mid-term performance was conducted through a mixed-methods approach, consisting of document review, focus group interviews, one-to-one interviews with key informants, and a critical evaluation of the findings from investigations, independent assessors, and evaluations. The research questions addressed in the evaluation include the operational capacity and objectives being met, the effectiveness of student recruitment, retention, and progression into employment, the quality of financial management, and the university's capacity to achieve sustainability. The evaluation team consisted of Earl Leroy Sullivan as the Expat Team Leader, Michael Lightfoot as the Expat Education & M&E Specialist, Friba Nasiri and Ammar Rezaie as Afghan M&E Specialists, Nasrullah Ahmadzai as the SUPPORT II Expert M&E Contact person, and Zuhal Latif as the SUPPORT II Gender & Evaluation Specialist. The evaluation was conducted under the supervision of Michael Lechner, Chief of Party, and Waheed Ahmadi, Deputy Chief of Party, of Checchi and Company Consulting, Inc. The evaluation findings and conclusions are presented in the subsequent sections, which include an assessment of the effectiveness, sustainability, and relevance of AUAF's major activities, an assessment of progress made in the five Program components and sub-components, identification of key risk factors, and provision of key recommendations to both USAID and AUAF for risk mitigation and technical improvement.