By Sama Abduljawad

In the wake of Education City’s plans to change its student scholarship criteria and the release of the results for next year’s financial aid applications, students are talking of transferring out of EC universities, as they are unable to afford the university tuition.

The EC student scholarship program is a full scholarship provided to several students throughout the campuses in EC. The criteria for this scholarship however has recently been changed from being based on a student’s GPA to a 100 point system, where the amount of time the student has lived in Qatar, his/her certified contributions to Qatari society and whether the applicant has a parent working for Qatar Foundation or HBKU are also included in the criteria.  

But students can also apply for financial aid, a loan-based program provided by HBKU for students who demonstrate financial need. Students must reapply annually, and receive varying amounts of aid depending on their financial situation.

Several students who only received small amounts of financial aid or were rejected all together have applied to universities outside HBKU for the fall semester of 2014.

Afnan Nehela, a freshman at Northwestern University in Qatar, said she would have preferred to continue her education here in Qatar, but cannot if she does not receive additional financial aid.

“I was told that QF is very generous with its financial aid so I had faith that NU-Q’s over- priced tuition [$48,404 or QR176,191) a year] wasn’t something I would have to worry about. Despite the tedious amount of time the application required, I applied for it but only received 20% of the tuition, which resulted in me still having to pay $30,000,” said Nehela.

Nehala is not the only freshman in Qatar Foundation who has been financially affected this year by HBKU’s scholarship changes and financial aid results. Sanjeet Sahni a freshman at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar spoke of the effect it has had on him.

“Part of the reason I chose to come to Qatar is because of the magnanimity of the Qatar Foundation and its financial aid and scholarship policies,” Sahni said. “Learning that they have altered it and altered those policies to where it may be unfavorable for international students like me is undoubtedly discomforting.”

NU-Q is concerned about the effect these changes could potentially have on the international members of its student body and said they voiced these concerns to officials in QF.

“NU-Q is well aware of the new criteria and has expressed concern with regard to the impact on international students.  Representations have been made to appropriate officials of the Qatar Foundation and we will continue to express our concern,” said Paul Reilly, the university’s Director of Media Strategy.

“Like our home campus, we are eager that solutions be found in the financing of higher education for students and their families,” he added.

HBKU failed to respond to any attempts made at contacting them about this issue.

Students in Education City have taken things into their own hands. An online petition against the changes to the scholarship criteria is currently circulating the Internet in hopes of getting 100 supporters.

The author of the petition prefers to remain anonymous because “the petition is not meant to have a face to it.”

“I think it’s best if it anonymously represents the grievances of international students, not just one of them,” the author added.

The petition’s author said that the students do not believe that the changes were made fairly and with enough warning to incoming underclassmen. “I think it’s wrong to give students one message when they are entering university and then take that away from them [once they are admitted].”

A supporter of the petition, Adam Abou-Gad, a freshman at NU-Q, does not think it’s fair that international students who haven’t lived in Qatar are put at an automatic disadvantage with the new scholarship criteria.

“I never heard of a scholarship that basically gives you points for being from a country or born in a country. I found that to be absolutely absurd and that’s why I signed [the petition].”

Both its author and Abou-Gad said that they don’t have high hopes that the petition will change things that have already been announced.

“I did it because I can see that the class of 2017 are going through some really hard times and to show them that someone out there cares for them,” said the author about the petition.