Privatization in higher education is proceeding at a slower pace, due mainly
to the great expense involved in establishing technical or medical faculties.
Some private universities also suffer from the government’s reluctance to ac-
knowledge the certificates they give to graduates. It is hard to believe today
that in the middle of the twentieth century the American University in Cairo
(AUC) also had to struggle a long time for full recognition. Today it is the
most renowned university in the country, but exclusively reserved for the young
generation of the upper classes. In 2001 the construction of new buildings
for this university began on a campus situated north-east of the Muqattam
mountain in El-Qahira el-Gedida (New Cairo), following a general trend of
establishing private universities in the new communities around the big cities.
The cost of the new structures will amount to US$290 million, and the uni-
versity will have additional new faculties for natural sciences and engineering
(Internet 2001e), for which there exists a great demand in Egypt. The private
Sitta October University in Giza was established in the 1980s.