CAIRO — On March 12, Egypt’s Administrative Court ordered the administration of the American University in Cairo (AUC) to accept tuition payment in Egyptian pounds rather than US dollars. The verdict was rendered in a lawsuit filed by parents of students against the university based on a decision it had issued in 2014.

According to the verdict, “The AUC is subject to the Ministry of Higher Education and is not entitled to operate outside the scope of Egyptian laws. The Ministry of Higher Education should have prohibited the collection of tuition fees in dollars. The fact that it refrains from doing so is a negative decision.”

The lawsuit filed by 60 parents against Egypt’s prime minister, parliament speaker, the minister of higher education and the president of AUC said that for 95 years the university has been receiving tuition payment in Egyptian pounds. But in 2014, the AUC issued a decision whereby students should pay 50% of their tuition fees in Egyptian pounds and 50% in US dollars, at the Central Bank’s exchange rate in 2014 (7.5 Egyptian pounds to $1).

The parents indicated that the Egyptian government’s decision to float the Egyptian pound at the end of November 2016 changed the exchange rate for the US dollar to at least 17 Egyptian pounds, which raised the university’s fees by about 30%.