UAE has over 295,000 higher education students, says new report

Abu Dhabi: Administrative, Sharia and law specialists accounted for the largest percentage (42.1 per cent) of higher education students in the UAE, a new report said on Monday.

The insight is part of key figures released by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC). Next most numerous specialists are from engineering, industry and construction, totalling 66,748 students or 22.6 per cent. This is followed by social sciences, journalism and information specialists, with 28,485 students (9.6 per cent).

Overall picture

FCSC said the number of higher education students in the country during the 2018-2019 academic year was 295,626, including 191,887 male students (64.9 per cent), and 103,739 female students (35.1 per cent).

Short vs long-term

The report also noted that the number of students enrolled in short-term higher education is 17,410 while those enrolled in bachelor’s degrees and equivalent programmes is 241,999. Those enrolled in diploma programmes number 1,656; those enrolled in master’s degree programmes is 27,423; and those enrolled in PhD programmes is 7,138.

Women in the lead

The report showed that female students registered a higher presence than males in four academic specialities, which are education, with 6,291 female students compared to 1,670 male students; fine arts and humanities with 11,921 compared to 6,509; environmental sciences, agriculture and veterinary medicine with 612 compared to 292; and health and social services with 12,807 compared to 8,279.

Academic personnel

According to the report, the number of academic personnel working in higher education institutions in the UAE amounted to 16,665 in the 2018-2019 academic year, including 10,709 men and 5,956 women.