US Halts $25 Million Grant to Afghan University, Leaving 1,000 Students in Limbo

The American University of Afghanistan has lost its primary financial lifeline after the United States decided to withhold a $25 million grant. The decision leaves approximately 1,000 students, three-quarters of whom are women, without the core funding that has supported their education since 2006. For Laila, a mid-twenties political science student whose name has been changed for safety, the news arrived via email in the middle of the night. She now studies in secret through the university's online platform because the Taliban have seized the physical campus.

Laila joins lectures from home using aliases and with her camera turned off. She knows her classmates only by their voices. Her academic journey has been interrupted multiple times. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, she was near the end of a semester at another Kabul university. After the new government banned women's education in December 2022, her degree remained unfinished. She eventually secured a scholarship to AUAF to start over, a chance she says not every girl receives.

The uncertainty of the funding cut adds to the daily risks faced by students. Some peers have received threatening calls, and Laila fears that Taliban officials searching her home might find university emails on her phone. Officials have entered her residence several times to search family belongings. She lives with the constant worry that authorities may target her next.

The US commitment to AUAF dates back to 2006, when former First Lady Laura Bush announced the funding. The initiative was designed to train future leaders, with a specific focus on women. Patrick Fine, who served as the Afghanistan mission director at USAID at the time, noted that the Bush administration viewed the university as a tool to stabilize the young democracy and build goodwill. However, the project was not universally supported within the agency, with some critics viewing it as a financial risk.

Scrutiny of the university's finances began in 2016 when US inspectors opened an investigation. By 2018, they reported that poor accounting practices made it difficult to track how aid money was spent. John Sopko, the former federal inspector general who oversaw the probe, expressed surprise that the US continued to fund the institution. He stated that he was surprised they were still funding AUAF given the audit issues.

The State Department press office told Deutsche Welle that the current decision reflects a history of repeated lack of accountability for taxpayer dollars. Fine rejected this explanation, calling it smear tactics. He acknowledged that earlier audits showed the university struggled with USAID's extensive rules but noted that they did not find major fraud. He described the university as a worthy investment because it remains one of the few organizations reaching Afghan women.

The US has historically covered nearly 90% of the university's costs, according to a 2018 report. While the State Department said the university is free to identify other funders, the loss of the $25 million grant creates significant uncertainty. Laila says she has lost her motivation and hope. She has barely left her room since learning of the cut and now wonders if she will graduate in five or ten years.