Top 10 Arab Universities
By: Pamela Dimitrova/ Arab America Contributing Writer
We all see worldwide rankings of top universities from Europe and the United States, but have you ever wondered who are the best Arab Universities? Or maybe you’re stuck in your choice of a higher education institution? Take a look of the top 10 Arab universities in the region, including a look at their subject strengths.
10. Sultan Qaboos University
Location: Oman
One of the youngest Arab universities on this list, SQU was established in 1986 in capital city Muscat, and is the only public university in the country. In accordance with the Royal Directive of His Majesty, the University commenced wit five colleges: Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, Education and Science.
Furthermore, the College of Arts was established in 1987, following the College of Commerce and Economics which was developed in 1993. The College of Law joined the University in 2006.
Situated within the old Omani village of Al Khoudh in Muscat, SQU’s campus is beautifully built in the traditional Islamic style, reflecting the unique and enigmatic charm of ancient Oman architecture.
9. University of Jordan
Location: Jordan
The University of Jordan is one of the H.K.J leading research universities. Their masters and doctorate degree programs are firmly rooted in their strong research culture, inspired from the leadership commitment to excellence .U.J has a growing postgraduate community of over 4,000 students, as a major teaching and research organization they offer 161 postgraduate programs in a wide range of fields supported by internationally recognized scholars .
8. American University of Cairo
Location: Egypt
Founded in 1919, AUC is a leading English-language, American-accredited institution of higher education and centre of intellectual, social and cultural life of the Arab world.
The University offers 36 undergraduate, 44 master’s and two PhD programs rooted in a liberal arts education that encourages students to think critically and find creative solutions to conflicts and challenges facing both the region and the world. The educational assets include the largest English-language academic library collection in Egypt, three modern theatres and 15 cross-disciplinary research centres.
7. American University of Sharjah (AUS)
Location: Sharjah, UAE
Despite being young in age, American University of Sharjah is acclaimed throughout the region for its academic excellence and multicultural campus life.
Founded in 1997 by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of Sharjah, the university was envisaged by His Highness as a leading educational institution in the Gulf region. Consciously based upon American Institutions of higher education, AUS thoroughly grounded in Arab culture and is part of larger process of the revitalization of intellectual life in the Middle East.
They currently offer 28 majors and 46 minors at the undergraduate level, 14 master’s degrees and one PhD program.
6. Qatar University
Location: Qatar
Since its inception in 1977, Qatar University continues to serve as the country’s primary institution of higher education and has become today a beacon of academic and research excellence in the region. QU hosts ten colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Sharia and Islamic Studies and Dental Medicine. It offers a wide range of academic programs – 45 Bachelors, 27 Masters, eight PhD’s, 4 Diplomas and a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD).
5. United Arab Emirates University
Location: UAE
Founded in 1976 by the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, UAEU aspires to become a comprehensive, research-intensive university and currently enrolls approximately 14,000 Emirati and international students. As the UAE’s flagship university, UAEU offers a full range of accredited, high-quality graduate and undergraduate programs through nine Colleges: Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Food and Agriculture; Humanities and Social Sciences; IT; Law; Medicine and Health Sciences; and Science.
UAEU is currently ranked #5 in the Arab World and #329 worldwide.
4. King Saud University (KSU)
Location: Saudi Arabia
King Saud University (KSU) was named after the founder of Saudi Arabia. Having recently made a vast investment toward the progressive development of the university as a world-renowned research-intensive institution, it currently features among the world’s top 300 universities in the world university rankings, at 256th place.
Also placing fourth in the Arab region this year, KSU gets highly impressive scores across eight out of the 10 indicators, hitting the flawless mark for those assessing the proportion of staff with PhD, international research network (which measures the diversity of universities’ research collaborations), and web impact.
3. King Abdulaziz University (KAU)
Location: Saudi Arabia
King Abdulaziz University (KAU) was established in 1967 in the city of Jeddah by the Red Sea as a private university bearing the name of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, in order to serve the needs of higher education in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. In 1973, KAU joined the Saudi public universities’ system. Since then KAU has gained successful experience and pioneered many academic systems and traditions in the development of higher education in the Kingdom. KAU has further witnessed tremendous quantitative and qualitative progress in terms of enrollment and diversity of academic programs. It is now recognized as a world-class prestigious university brought about by its international outreach and collaboration in research, innovation, accreditations and rankings. It does this while continues to maintain its traditional commitment to deliver outstanding education and community service.
2. American University of Beirut (AUB)
Location: Lebanon
Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut is a teaching-centered research university based on the American liberal arts model of higher education. AUB has over 9,000 students and over 1,200 instructional faculty members. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, lifelong learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.
The University offers 141 undergraduate/graduate programs, in addition to 36 certificates and diplomas.
1. King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM)
Location: Saudi Arabia
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) is currently the 189th best university in the QS World University Rankings, and was first established by Royal Decree in 1963. It offers Saudi Arabia’s most highly-regarded science and engineering programs, and due to the Kingdom’s successful management of petroleum and mineral resources, has adopted an excellent approach to advanced training in the fields of science, engineering, and management.
Topping the Arab region university rankings this year, KFUPM scores the highest in the top 10 for its faculty/student ratio, and research papers per faculty member – for which it also receives a perfect score.
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