Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Higher Education has suspended new admissions in three private UAE universities for their upcoming academic year, said a top official.

Dr Ahmad Abdullah Humaid Bel Houl Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education, said on the sidelines of a press conference in Dubai that Al Hosn University in Abu Dhabi, University of Jazeera in Dubai and University of Modern Sciences in Dubai have been suspended from admitting new students after failing to meet the required accreditation standards of the Ministry of Higher Education.

The ministry’s decision only affects new students who wish to enrol at the universities, and not those who are currently studying there.

Dr Al Falasi said: “The Ministry of Higher Education has put the three universities on probation, ordering them to stop admitting students for the next academic year. All three did not meet the licensing and accreditation standards (of the ministry).

“As part of our annual review of universities operating in the country, we evaluated their academic programmes to ensure their compliance with key benchmarks. Our visits included worldwide experts in the field of higher education, and it was proved that these universities were not meeting the licensing and accreditation standards (set by the ministry).”

Dr Al Falasi also said ensuring that all universities operating in the country are maintaining the best international and local standards is a priority for the ministry. “The ministry is not only responsible for giving licences to universities and educational programmes, but it is also responsible to evaluate these institutions and their educational programmes on a regular basis, to make sure that each institution is meeting the required standards.”

S.O, 22, from Syria and a graduate student from Al Hosn University in Abu Dhabi, said she was worried about the news and how it could potentially hurt her future job prospects.

“This news bothered me so much because of the bad reputation the university will have from now on,” she said.

“Career wise, it is really bad for students who have graduated from the university to say that they have studied in this institution, it doesn’t look good,” S.O added.

“I paid a lot of money to study in Al Hosn University, and so it is so upsetting to have such a reputation after four years of hard work.”