THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT
University Scholarship Program V Year One Quarter Four Report
The University Scholarship Program V (USP V) is a USAID-funded initiative aimed at providing full coverage scholarships to 52 male and female public high school students and technical school students to pursue undergraduate studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB).
2015 · 7 pages
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Abstract
The program's main objective is to give young students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds in the 26 districts of Lebanon access to high-quality college education. The program offers full coverage of tuition fees, housing or transportation allowances, books' allowance, a laptop, and monthly stipends. During their stay at AUB, the students are required to maintain a good academic status while being involved in community service projects and internship work outside AUB in fields related to their majors. A total of 933 applications were received for the USP V program, with 59 applications rejected for incompleteness or failure to meet eligibility criteria. The USP V Pre-Selection Committee shortlisted 260 applicants based on their need scores, district need scores, and grade 10 and 11 averages. The USP V Selection Committee met on May 21, 2014, and approved the list of 260 shortlisted candidates. The second round of interviews was conducted in July, and 106 candidates were shortlisted based on grades 10 and 11 averages, need scores, interview results, and English language proficiency (EEE) results. The selected 53 students were informed by phone of their final selection and were asked to confirm their choice of major and acceptance of the scholarship in person at AUB. The selected students underwent a final selection orientation day on August 22, where they were introduced to the different components of the USP program. They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and received their laptops and AUB orientation materials. The students who were admitted to the University Preparatory Program (UPP) attended an orientation meeting on September 2, where they were introduced to the program's objectives and requirements. All USP V students who were regularly admitted to AUB registered their courses for the Fall 2014-2015 semester, and their schedules and registrations were individually verified by the Academic Monitor and the Program Coordinator. The program's first year was marked by several challenging milestones, including preparing dissemination material, recruiting students from public schools, and ensuring that all selected students registered their courses and were engaged within the AUB environment.
