This month’s shock cancellation of almost all foreign aid by the incoming administration of President Donald Trump has students and teachers across Liberia shellshocked.

The US government has made substantial investments in Liberia’s education sector over the years spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Though experts say the education system is still largely dysfunctional, defenders of USAID say things would be even worse without school lunches, teacher training and materials it has supplied.

As King Brown reports in this collaboration with Magic FM in Grand Bassa County, thousands of university students undertaking degrees in education with US-funded scholarships, are on the front line. They’ve been kicked out of courses at eight universities and colleges, some just months before graduation.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.