American University Of Afghanistan (AUAF) To Be Closed If Federal Funding Is Cut

The latest report by CNN shows that if the USAID withdraws its funding for AUAF, there is a high possibility that this university will shut down next year.

The American University of Afghanistan, which is one of the top universities of the country, receives almost 60% of its funding from federal funding of the USA. This comes as, in the latest meetings of the USAID with the board of trustees of the university, it was concluded that the university should diversify its streams of funding.

“At a meeting with members of the AUAF Board of Trustees on December 9, 2019, USAID’s leadership once again strongly encouraged the university to diversify its funding sources, as representatives from the Agency had done in past correspondence and previous meetings, both in Washington and in Kabul,” a USAID spokesperson told CNN.

This is just an assumption and is not final yet. It is just to show the worst scenario case that will happen to this university again which was almost closed in 2016 following the Taliban’s attack.

The current funding will last by May. If by any possibility, the university closes, the academic journey of more than 800 students will be uncertain, and the staff and faculty members of AUAF can look for new jobs in April.

This is not the first time that AUAF is facing the danger of closure. Back in 2016, after the attack of the Taliban which killed around 16 people, the university was closed for seven months. It could survive that and run its operations.