Foreign degree at your doorstep

With increasing demand for world-class education, several foreign universities are setting up campuses in the UAE.

UAE resident Shamona Khan breaks into a contented sigh the moment you ask her about college. The student of accountancy and business studies at Middlesex University, Dubai campus, says: "Can you imagine, I can actually have all the comforts of home and graduate with a degree that's recognised all over the world. It's as good as studying in the United Kingdom. The best part is I get the degree without having to go to London and adjusting to a whole new culture and climate." In the UAE there are hundreds of students like Khan, who can get a foreign degree without having to leave family or feel the pinch in their pockets. Better still, as Louai Khairi, a student of internet science at the University of Wollongong in Dubai, sums it up: "Degrees from foreign universities give us a competitive edge in the UAE job market by providing us with multiple skills."

Higher education in the UAE is generally provided by public universities and colleges (restricted to UAE nationals only) and private institutions, which include the UAE campuses of foreign universities. With the increased demand for world-class education in the region, several foreign universities have now set up campuses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, most of these colleges and universities such as European University College Brussels, the Heriot Watt University, University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), Manipal Academy of Higher Education or the British University have their campuses in the Knowledge Village (set up in the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone as an education and training hub for excellence in learning and innovation). In most cases, degrees offered by these institutions are accredited by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education, which means that graduates can be employed by the public sector in any of the GCC countries.

Wealth of opportunities

According to Dr Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director of the Dubai Knowledge Village, "The rapidly growing UAE economy has increased the demand for qualified and skilled talent. Internationally recognised degrees offer a wealth of opportunities for students in a competitive job market." Currently 70 per cent of students at the Knowledge Village are from the UAE and 30 per cent come from outside the country. "Around 90 per cent of graduates from Knowledge Village find placements even before they graduate. Students learn a lot by being close to the market," says Dr Kazim. Studies conducted by the Dubai-based Madar Research Group show that a significant number of UAE graduates travel abroad for higher education, with the UK and USA being the two top destinations. However, over the last few years the numbers have decreased with the introduction and expansion of accredited branches of foreign universities in the UAE.

Growth in the region

"In the last few years, this region has witnessed tremendous growth," says Mohammad Ali Meraj, UAE Marketing Manager of the University of Wollongong in Dubai. The UOWD is one of the UAE's oldest and most prestigious universities with a proud Australian heritage and currently enrolls 2,500 students in a variety of programmes. "Our courses are a healthy blend of global best practices and local realities, where international principles are customised to suit domestic market trends. Students are specially trained to learn the customs and traditions of the local job market. UOWD courses are also internationally audited by the Australian Universities Quality Agency and recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education, UAE," says Meraj.

Around 80 per cent of the students at UOWD are from the UAE and the rest from overseas.

Nahid Afshan, Admissions Officer of Bits Pilani, Dubai campus, feels that since the Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE catered only to the local population, there was a need for quality engineering education in the Middle East. Although Bits is open to all nationalities, the student population comprises mostly expatriates. "We also have students coming in from Oman, Pakistan and even the Far East. Earlier Indian students had to go back to their country to enroll into a good engineering college, but now Bits has reversed the rule. We have students coming all the way from India to study at the Dubai campus."