The U.S. State Department announced that it granted $20m in emergency support to cover half of the tuition of 1,800 students at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU). The funding aims to help alleviate the impact of Lebanon's challenging economic conditions on the education sector in the country.

The emergency tuition support is part of the "Tomorrow's Leaders" program, which is an initiative funded by the State Department's U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). The program provides tuition and other academic and living expenses for a period of four years to academically-qualified and financially-disadvantaged students at American accredited institutions in the Middle East and North Africa region.

AUB generated $208.2m, or 36.6% of its revenues from tuition payments in the academic year 2018-19. It also provided $49m in financial aid in the same year, which accounted for 8.6% of the university's total spending. Further, AUB's endowment reached $769m at the end of June 2019. In parallel, AUB announced that it will lay off up to 25% of its workforce, close administrative departments, and discontinue work on a project for a new medical center. The university forecast its annual revenues for academic year 2020-21 at $249m, which would constitute a reduction of 60% from projected revenues of $609m in academic year 2019-20.

In parallel, LAU generated $143m, or 75.8% of its revenues from tuition payments in the academic year 2017-18, the latest available figures. It also paid $34m in financial aid in the same year, which represented 18% of its total spending. According to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, LAU's endowment reached $543.4m at the end of June 2019.