{"id":17857,"date":"2026-10-11T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T09:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=17857"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:54:24","slug":"postgraduate-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/postgraduate-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying for a Degree: The Rising Cost of Postgraduate Study in Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

The journey of postgraduate study reveals a bill that goes beyond tuition fees, to include registration fees, courses, tests, the costs of the defence, printing and more, and amid financial burdens, complicated procedures and problems in supervision and guidance, the researcher faces years of effort and spending<\/strong><\/p>\n

On his Facebook page, Mohamed Ibrahim El-Ashmawy, a professor of Hadith at Al-Azhar University, advised<\/a> students not to waste their lives on postgraduate studies, master’s degrees and doctorates, considering that these degrees no longer carry any weight in their reality. His words open a question about the cost of study and its value, but the testimonies of the researchers in this report reveal varying experiences, not a single answer that applies to everyone.<\/p>\n

On 5 August 2026, Al-Azhar University announced<\/a> the details of the increase in postgraduate fees for the 2026\/2027 academic year, explaining that the decision had been approved in January and ratified by the Supreme Council of Al-Azhar, and that fees had not risen since 2014. The increase prompted student demands for a reduction in fees.<\/p>\n

On 25 August 2026, Al-Azhar University announced<\/a> a 50% reduction in postgraduate fees for the core colleges of the Sharia and Arabic sectors and for the theoretical colleges, in consideration of students’ circumstances and in support of scientific research. But the fees did not return to what they had been before the increase decision.<\/p>\n

Article 169<\/a> of Universities Organisation Law No. 49 of 1972 stipulates that “education is free for citizens of the Republic at the various university stages. With the exception of the branches abroad of universities subject to this law, students who are not citizens of the Republic pay the tuition fees specified in the executive regulations, provided that the proceeds of these fees are allocated to the educational service at the university in which they are enrolled, and all students pay the fees determined by the executive regulations in return for the various student services, provided that the proceeds of each such fee are allocated to the service for which it is paid”. This text concerns the universities subject to the Universities Organisation Law; Al-Azhar University, however, has a special legislative framework governed by Law No. 103 of 1961, and it is therefore not correct to assume that the same provisions automatically apply to it.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Bassam Abu Gazia tells Zawia3 that postgraduate fees at present contradict two main parts of Article 169 of the Universities Organisation Law, namely “education is free for citizens of the Republic” and “allocating each fee to the service for which it is paid”. This is a legal assessment offered by the lawyer, not a court ruling invalidating all the fees mentioned in the testimonies.<\/p>\n

Postgraduate fees have seen increases over the years. Tanta University<\/a> documents a decision on 27 March 2014 raising postgraduate fees at the Faculty of Nursing, then a decision in June of the same year increasing the fees of the Faculty of Commerce. As for the circulating example of Ain Shams Commerce in 2016, the link attached to it points to an increase in the fees of the English section at the bachelor’s stage, not to a documented decision increasing postgraduate fees in September. Likewise, the Kafr El-Sheikh University page referred to in the report’s material does not make it possible to verify the details of a decision attributed to December 2016 concerning the fees for 2017\/2018. In October 2018, Matrouh University announced a reduction in postgraduate fees in response to students’ petitions; the reduction was described at the time as 40%, while the price per hour given in the news item changed from EGP 300 to EGP 200, i.e. about 33.3%. This shows the need to distinguish between the headline of a decision and the financial item being calculated.<\/p>\n

Among the most recent decisions mentioned in the report is the Al-Azhar University decision<\/a>, under which diploma fees rose from EGP 750 to EGP 4,000, and master’s fees to EGP 5,000 instead of EGP 1,500, while doctorate fees reached EGP 7,000 compared with EGP 2,000 previously, before the university decided to cut the new fees by 50% for the Sharia, Arabic and theoretical colleges.<\/p>\n