Higher Education
At the higher education level, numerous institutions are available to the student body. In 1976, UAE University (UAEU) was established in Al Ayn in Abu Dhabi. Consisting of nine colleges, it is considered by the UAE government to be the leading teaching and research institution in the country. More than 14,000 students were enrolled at UAEU in the first semester of the academic year 2006–7.
In 1983, Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS) was established to provide world class education in the area of banking and financial studies. The Institute is doing a pioneering work in the area of banking and financial studies education to provide skilled manpower to the UAE banks and financial institutions. The Institution has two campuses at Sharjah and Abu Dhabi and third state of the art campus is coming up at Dubai. The Institute is currently offering Higher Banking Diploma Program, Islamic Banking Diploma Program, etc. and host of training programmes in the area of Banking and Insurance.
In 1988 the first four Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) were opened. In the academic year 2005–6, 12 campuses offered more than 75 programs, with a combined enrollment of 15,000 men and women. The commercial arm of the HCT, the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, is allied with multinational companies to provide training courses and professional development. In 1998 Zayed University was opened for women with campuses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. A new US$100.7 million campus in Dubai opened in 2006.
While the American University in Dubai opened its doors in 1995 to join the successful ranks of its much older regional counterparts in Cairo and Beirut, more recently, several international universities enjoying a presence in the Emirates include Tufts University and George Mason University in Ras Al Khaimah; Michigan State University and Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai. New York University (NYU) is set to open alongside the Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi in the fall of 2010. After a distinguished seven hundred year history, in 2006 the UAE became home to Sorbonne’s first campus abroad. Although its focus is largely on the arts and humanities, Emirati students attending international universities locally, commonly concentrate on business, science, engineering and computers programs. For the first time in the UAE the first medical school Gulf Medical University was set to open in 1998 for both genders of all nationalities. Formerly known as Gulf Medical College. In 2008 it expanded its campus and programs to include dentistry, pharmacy and other programs in association with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Gulf Medical University is based in the Emirate of Ajman.
In 2003 Dubai established a dedicated education zone, Dubai Knowledge Village, based at Dubai Internet City. The 1 km long campus brings together globally recognized international universities, training centers, e-learning, and research and development companies in one location. As of early 2007, it had attracted 16 international university partners, which include Saint-Petersburg State, University of Engineering and Economics, University of Wollongong, Mahatma Gandhi University, and the Manchester Business School.
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is the government ministry concerned with higher education. The Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), a department in the Ministry, licenses institutions and accredits degree programmes. bnk
Read more about this topic: Education In The United Arab Emirates
Famous quotes containing the words higher and/or education:
“The poor tread lightest on the earth. The higher our income, the more resources we control and the more havoc we wreak.”
—Paul Harrison (b. 1936)
“Nature has taken more care than the fondest parent for the education and refinement of her children. Consider the silent influence which flowers exert, no less upon the ditcher in the meadow than the lady in the bower. When I walk in the woods, I am reminded that a wise purveyor has been there before me; my most delicate experience is typified there.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)