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Gain insights into the United Arab Emirates higher education framework, academic culture, teaching methods, and grading system to prepare for your studies.
4 years (BITS Pilani Dubai Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.), Amity University Dubai Bachelor of Science (BSc))
First university degree.
About 2 years (BITS Pilani Dubai Master of Engineering (M.E.))
Needs a bachelor's degree.
PhD
Khalifa University offers PhDs, with or without a master's first.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR) gives universities their licence to run. The Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) approves their programmes. There are public universities, private ones and campuses of foreign universities.
The UAE has public universities, private universities and branch campuses of foreign universities.
United Arab Emirates University (UAEU, founded 1976), Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT). They are mainly for students who are UAE citizens.
•Other students can apply only if the university's terms allow it.
Examples include American University of Sharjah, BITS Pilani Dubai, Heriot-Watt University Dubai, University of Birmingham Dubai and Amity University Dubai.
•Each sets its own fees and admission rules.
•Many are in Dubai free zones (special business areas with their own rules), such as Dubai International Academic City (DIAC).
Khalifa University (KU) in Abu Dhabi focuses on science, engineering and medicine.
•All its programmes are accredited by the CAA.
The first university degree.
Needs a bachelor's degree.
Most universities have an autumn semester (half a study year) and a spring semester. American University of Sharjah (AUS) also has a summer term. AUS calls the August start 'Fall' and the January start 'Spring'.
Many UAE universities count your study in credit hours (one unit of a course). At AUS, 12 to 16 credit hours a semester counts as full-time study. Amity University Dubai's BSc Computer Science (AI) is 125 credit hours over 4 years.
MoHESR gives public and private universities their licence and sets quality rules. The CAA also licenses institutions and officially approves (accredits) their programmes.
The CAA checks results too, such as whether graduates find jobs and what students learn.
The CAA licenses institutions.
The CAA officially approves each academic programme.
The CAA reviews institutions regularly.
Each emirate (a state of the UAE) has its own education office. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) looks after education in Dubai. The Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) looks after education in Abu Dhabi.
Major Regional Accreditors:
The CAA was set up in 1999 under the Ministry of Higher Education. It licenses institutions and officially approves their programmes.
Some programmes are also approved by a subject group. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), a group that checks engineering courses, has approved Khalifa University's engineering programmes.
Use the CAA lists and ask your university.
The UAE government page on who licenses and approves universities.
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