DCF and Saint Peter's University Launch U.S. Degree for Women in Afghanistan

Fully online associate degree requires no high school transcript and costs students nothing, as U.S. government funding for Afghan women's education ends

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Digital Citizen Fund (DCF), a U.S. nonprofit led by Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, and Saint Peter's University today announced a fully online, accredited Associate of Science in Business Management for 25 women living inside Afghanistan. Private donors cover all tuition. Students pay nothing.

Unlike most online degree programs, it requires no high school transcript. The Taliban have barred girls from school past sixth grade since 2021, so students in informal, underground schools cannot earn a diploma. This degree gives them a path back into higher education.

The launch comes days after the U.S. State Department said it will stop funding the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) at the end of 2026. AUAF teaches about 980 students online, three-quarters of them women and roughly 90 percent inside Afghanistan. It was one of the last remaining ways for Afghan women to earn a degree from home.

Afghanistan is the only country that bars girls from school beyond sixth grade and women from university. UNESCO estimates more than 2.6 million girls and women have been shut out of formal education. Since 2025, U.S.-funded community schools serving nearly 300,000 children have closed, and nearly three in four Afghan women's organizations surveyed by UN Women lost funding.

"Every year since 2021, the doors to higher education have closed a little more for the women we teach," said Roya Mahboob, DCF's president and co-founder. "This degree opens one back up. It does not ask a student for a diploma the Taliban made impossible to earn. It asks only that she show up and do the work, and we will stand with her the whole way."

The degree is taught entirely online by Saint Peter's faculty. Courses cover entrepreneurship, finance, management and leadership, and are designed for the slow, unreliable internet common inside Afghanistan. Classes begin January 19, 2027.

DCF, which has worked inside Afghanistan since 2013, recruits candidates through its networks, verifies their circumstances and supports them from enrollment through graduation. It has already identified the first 25 students. The cohort is expected to grow each year.

Saint Peter's provides the degree at cost, about $4,000 per student. The accredited credential can be used anywhere and counts toward a bachelor's degree. No U.S. or foreign government money is involved, so the program does not depend on aid budgets that have been cut since 2025.

DCF will host its inaugural benefit gala on November 14, 2026, at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, N.J., to raise the $100,000 that covers tuition for all 25 students. If the goal is not met, DCF will cover the balance. Donations and gala tickets are available at https://digitalcitizenfund.org/gala .


About the Digital Citizen Fund

The Digital Citizen Fund is a New York-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has taught technology, business and financial skills to girls and women inside Afghanistan since 2012. It has served more than 28,000 students, helped more than 100 women launch businesses and founded the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, whose story inspired the 2025 film Rule Breakers. After the Taliban closed its 13 technology centers in 2021, DCF moved its teaching online and underground. DCF holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating and a Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency. Its president and co-founder, Roya Mahboob, was named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People in 2013. https://digitalcitizenfund.org/

Zack Shapiro
Digital Citizen Fund
Zack@angle42.co