DCF and Saint Peter's launch free online degree for Afghan women

The Digital Citizen Fund and Saint Peter's University are opening a fully online associate degree for 25 women inside Afghanistan as U.S. support for other Afghan women's education programs winds down. The accredited program starts Jan. 19 and is designed to give students blocked from school by Taliban restrictions a path to higher education.

Why it matters: - 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. - The new degree offers one of the few remaining paths to a U.S.-accredited credential for women who cannot attend school in person. - The program arrives as U.S.-funded education support for Afghan women continues to shrink.

What happened: - The Digital Citizen Fund, a U.S. nonprofit led by Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, and Saint Peter's University launched a fully online Associate of Science in Business Management for 25 women living inside Afghanistan. - Private donors cover all tuition, so students pay nothing. - The degree requires no high school transcript. - Classes begin January 19, 2027.

The details: - Saint Peter's faculty will teach the program entirely online. - Courses include entrepreneurship, finance, management and leadership. - The curriculum is designed for the slow and unreliable internet common inside Afghanistan. - The accredited credential can be used anywhere and counts toward a bachelor's degree. - Saint Peter's is offering the degree at cost, about $4,000 per student. - No U.S. or foreign government money is involved. - DCF has already identified the first 25 students and expects the cohort to grow each year. - DCF recruits candidates through its networks, verifies their circumstances and supports them from enrollment through graduation. - DCF has worked inside Afghanistan since 2013. - The group will host its inaugural benefit gala on Nov. 14, 2026, at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, N.J., to raise the $100,000 needed to cover tuition for all 25 students. - If the fundraising goal is not met, DCF will cover the balance. - Donations and gala tickets are available at the gala page. - More information is available at DCF's website.

Between the lines: - The no-transcript requirement is the key design choice, since Taliban restrictions prevent many Afghan girls and women from earning the documents normally needed for college. - The program is structured to avoid reliance on government aid budgets that have been cut since 2025. - The launch also broadens DCF's shift from in-person training to online education after the Taliban closed its 13 technology centers in 2021. - The announcement lands days after the U.S. State Department said funding for the American University of Afghanistan will stop at the end of 2026. - AUAF teaches about 980 students online, about three-quarters of them women and roughly 90% inside Afghanistan. - AUAF has been one of the last ways for Afghan women to earn a degree from home. - 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.

What's next: - DCF will use the Nov. 14 gala to try to secure full tuition funding for the inaugural class. - The first students are expected to start classes in January. - DCF plans to expand the cohort in future years.

The bottom line: - The program is a small, donor-funded workaround to a broader collapse in educational access for Afghan women, but it gives a first class of students a concrete route back into higher education.