Gulf universities: From global partnerships to local strength

As schools and universities in the UAE reopen, the moment offers a useful reminder. The real test of a higher education system is not only the calibre of the institutions linked to it, but its ability to sustain learning, support students, and adapt when conditions become less predictable.

That is a timely point for the Gulf. Across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, governments have spent years investing in higher education to raise quality, widen access, and strengthen their position in the global knowledge economy. International partnerships have been central to that effort. Branch campuses, research collaborations, faculty exchanges, and specialised programmes have broadened academic choice, introduced global standards, and accelerated the transfer of expertise.

Those partnerships have delivered real value. The next phase will ask more of them. As Oliver Wyman’s report - ‘Redefining International University Partnerships In The Gulf’ - argues, the challenge now is to move from importing prestige towards creating sustainable, locally rooted excellence.

Beyond prestige

This is not a rejection of international collaboration. Global partnerships will remain an important part of the region’s academic development. They bring credibility, networks, and experience that would be difficult to build quickly from scratch. Yet mature systems cannot depend on affiliation alone. Over time, they need stronger local capability, clearer institutional identity, and models that create lasting value beyond the presence of a recognised foreign name.

That is why the report places such emphasis on co-creation. Imported models have helped to raise standards, but they do not always reflect local priorities, labour market needs, or cultural context with enough precision. The report cites Professor Joanne Roberts’ view that curriculum “should be co-created, not imported”, an observation that goes to the heart of what comes next for the Gulf. The most durable partnerships will be those that combine international academic rigour with regional relevance, rather than assuming one can simply be overlaid onto the other.

This matters not only for educational quality, but also for resilience. Institutions that are more deeply grounded in their own context are generally better placed to adapt when circumstances change. Recent disruption has brought that into sharper focus. A university’s strength lies not only in the standing of its partners, but in the depth of its own academic community, the flexibility of its teaching model, and the clarity of its sense of purpose.

Building lasting strength

Local capability-building therefore deserves more attention than it often receives. Visiting faculty, short-term exchanges, and international secondments all have their place. But long-term excellence depends on developing local faculty, leadership, and research capacity. The report argues that sustainable educational quality requires deliberate investment in faculty development and capability transfer, so that institutions can build their own reputations over time, not simply borrow those of others.

The way success is measured also needs to evolve. In the Gulf, as elsewhere, global rankings and institutional reputation often dominate the conversation. Yet these are blunt instruments, especially in the early years of a partnership. They are also lagging indicators, and in many cases they reflect the standing of the parent institution more than the performance of a campus or partnership in the region. The report argues that more meaningful measures include graduate employability, research output and impact, employer engagement, and alignment with national labour market needs.

The point is straightforward. The question is not simply whether a partnership looks impressive, but whether it is producing graduates with relevant skills, building research ecosystems that matter locally, and helping institutions become stronger in their own right.

Financial sustainability

Financial sustainability is part of the same conversation. High-quality international partnerships require substantial investment in infrastructure, faculty, technology, and operations. In much of the Gulf, public funding has played a decisive role in enabling these models. But the report notes that future arrangements will need to place greater weight on self-sufficiency, diversified funding, and remuneration structures that are better aligned with capability transfer and long-term outcomes. A partnership that depends indefinitely on external funding and external identity is not yet a fully mature model.

None of this diminishes the progress the region has made. International partnerships have already helped reshape higher education across the Gulf, bringing global expertise and raising ambition. But the next academic leap will be defined by what those partnerships leave behind. That means stronger institutions, more relevant curricula, deeper pools of local academic talent, and clearer measures of value.

The Gulf has shown that it can attract world-class universities. The more consequential task now is to build systems that are globally connected, locally grounded, and resilient enough to keep delivering when conditions change. That is how international partnership becomes enduring local strength.

Dr Vanina Torlo is Partner, Government and Public Institutions, IMEA