American University of Cairo
USAID is to be commended for creating and successfully implementing a program in Egypt that combines the best of development policy and US higher education resources. The LEAD Program (Leadership for Education and Developoment) anually selects two students from each of Egypt’s 27 governorates to attend the American University of Cairo. The scholarships are reserved for students who have attended government-run public schools and not the private school students who regularly fill AUC’s ranks. Begun in 2005, the program offers intensive training for students in academics, leadership, community involvement and ethics. In addition, about 30% of the LEAD students spend a semester studying at a US institution, including SUNY New Paltz. In my experiencem these semesters have been a great success, for Egyptian students and the Americans they get to know during the semester. Several thousand students apply for the 54 slots each year. With more funding and more participating institutions this program could be expanded -within Egypt and across the Arab world (for starters) with no dimunition in quality. I am not aware of similar programs supported by USAID but please let me know of any if they exist. US higher education is still respected and admired in the Arab world and programs like this certainly do as much (likely more) to support long-term US development goals in the Arab world as technical assistance contracts .