Inclusive education is one of PPU's main goals that is assured through adopting student aid programs to help students with economic hardships and those affected by discriminative manifestations of occupation such as remoteness and lack of basic services such as decent jobs / housing and electricity. More than 50% of PPU students receive student aid through the various programs of loans and grants that PPU provides in cooperation with local and international partners.
Also, PPU provides a number of student aid and students’ scholarships coordinated by the Deanship for Students Affairs where students with financial hardships are invited to sign up for loans and scholarship surveys that document their socioeconomic status and eligibility for funding. PPU also provides excellent scholarships and facilitates funded students’ scholarships based on students’ programs and academic merits in addition to socioeconomic status.
PPU currently manages 15 external scholarships from local, regional, and international donors, with more than 200 benefiting students in addition to many local donations by individuals and smaller communities that target students facing social and economic hardships. Each scholarship program has a set of criteria for student selection and granting that is mainly endorsed as criteria of selection according to the donor institution.
Targeted students are usually coming from various backgrounds and marginalized areas such as refugee camps, the old city of Hebron, and remote residential areas such as area C on the West Bank. These are considered a high priority for scholarships and grants as they usually suffer from high poverty rates in addition to high commuting costs.
In addition to student aid funds and scholarships PPU holds youth empowerment and employability initiatives through partnerships with local and international institutions to fight poverty; such as UNDP, TIPH, Action Aid Australia, The Palestinian Ministry for Social Development, Save the Children, CARE International and many more. PPU has been providing employability and youth empowerment services to thousands of beneficiaries, especially in marginalized areas. Poverty-fighting initiatives and projects are still taking place by PPU, especially after the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic causing the economy to slow down. Initiatives are being held and developed around the year in partnership with economical actors such as the Palestinian Businessmen Forum, Hebron Chamber for Commerce and Industry, various unions of local industries, in addition to governmental and non-governmental organizations as well.
