Year One Quarter One Report: University Scholarship Program IV

The program, sponsored by USAID/Lebanon, offers full coverage of tuition fees, housing or transportation allowances, books, a laptop, and stipends for five years to students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds in the 26 districts of Lebanon. The main objective of the scholarship is to give young students access to high-quality college education at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The scholarship recipients 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. The program's recruitment strategy involves promoting the program and distributing application material to public schools throughout Lebanon. The USP IV team had the applications, brochures, and posters ready for promotion and dissemination by early January 2013. School visits commenced in January, with AUB recruitment officers distributing the USP IV applications, brochures, and posters to schools. The schools had already received a letter from the Ministry of Education permitting the schools to receive representatives from AUB for the purpose of disseminating the program and distributing applications. The USP IV website was designed by the USP team and AUB's communication office and was up and running at the beginning of January 2013. The website provided access to detailed information about the program, including links to the application, brochure, and English Entrance Exam (EEE). The USP IV team also organized TV interviews with six TV networks and one radio station, as well as newspaper advertisements in five local newspapers. Posters were distributed to schools as an additional way to promote the program. The recruitment strategy involved an aggressive recruitment approach, with six AUB Office of Admissions officers assisting in the recruitment process. The officers were trained by the Director of Recruitment on how to present the program during school visits. The recruitment team completed all scheduled official high school visits on April 12, 2013. The deadline for the submission of applications was extended to April 30, 2013, and it is expected that school visits will continue during April. The month of May will be a busy month for the recruitment officers, who will enter data, follow up on applications, and short-list students for the interview and English Entrance Exam (EEE).