US Withholds $25 Million From Afghan University, Stranding 1,000 Students

The email arrived in the middle of the night.

Laila, a political science student in her mid-twenties, woke for a glass of water and saw the message on her phone. The United States would no longer fund the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). For Laila, who studies in secret under a Taliban ban on women's higher education, the news felt like a final blow. She has barely left her room since learning of the decision.

The university opened in 2006 with support from former First Lady Laura Bush, who pledged it would train future leaders. The project was controversial even then. Patrick Fine, the former USAID mission director, noted that many colleagues viewed the funding as risky. He said the administration saw it as a way to stabilize a young democracy and build goodwill. The agency provided nearly 90% of the university's funding as of 2018, according to a US report.

Scrutiny increased in Washington over the following decade. US inspectors launched a financial investigation in 2016. By 2018, they reported that poor accounting made it difficult to track exactly how aid money was spent. John Sopko, the former federal inspector who oversaw the probe, told DW: "I was surprised they were still funding AUAF." This year, the State Department press office told DW the decision to stop the $25 million grant reflected a "history of repeated lack of accountability for millions of American taxpayer dollars."

Fine rejected that explanation as "smear tactics." He acknowledged that audits found the university struggling with USAID's rules but said they "didn't find major fraud." He called the institution "a worthy investment" because it remains one of the few organizations still reaching Afghan women.

The university is not closed. The State Department said AUAF is "free to identify other funders and partners." However, without the large US contribution, its future remains uncertain. The Taliban seized the campus in 2021, forcing the 1,000 students, about three-quarters of them women, to continue their studies online. They join lectures from home, often using aliases and keeping their cameras off. Laila said: "I just know their voices."

Laila’s path to AUAF began when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. She was at another Kabul university with two exams remaining. After the ban on women's education took effect in December 2022, her degree stayed unfinished. She won a scholarship to AUAF and started again. "Not every girl got that opportunity," she said. She has now lost all her motivation and hope, wondering if she will ever graduate.