United Arab Emirates is a country in Southeast Asia, situated in the Southeast part of the Arab peninsula. It consists of 7 emirates. The population is estimated to be around 9,5 million people, 80% of which are immigrants – 7.8 mil. The capital city is Abu Dhabi and the largest one is Dubai. The official language is Arabic.

Economy

UAE economy is ranked 32^nd in the world by GDP per capita. 85% of the GDP comes from petrol and natural gas export. UAE is the second largest petroleum producer in the Persian Gulf.

Tourism is also well-developed. Each year more than 10 million tourists come to Dubai, being attracted by the cosmopolitan city.

Universities

There are 116 higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates, which include institutes, universities and campuses of international universities.

Teaching Methods

Bachelor degree – 4 years

Master degree – 1-2 years

International Students

There are more than 30 000 international students in UAE. Most of them come from the USA, UK, France, Canada, Australia and India. There are many international university campuses, offering high quality education. According to a British Council report, which is based on a study of international policy in higher education, out of 38 countries UAE is ranked 2nd for higher education quality and 5th for transparency and mobility.

In order to attract more international students authorities in UAE have replaced the 1 year permit visa with a 5 year one, in addition, at it is now easier to get permission to work and live in the exotic country.

Programmes

The programmes most preferred by international students are: Architecture, Engineering, IT for Bachelor’s degree and Business for Master’s degree.

Most of the programmes are internationally orientated and are taught in English.

Rankings

There are almost 30 international university campuses in UAE. Below is a list of the most renowned ones:

• American University in Dubai –a private university with more than 2000 students from more than 100 countries, gives you the opportunity to study abroad, whilst keeping the American style of lecturing. Popular Bachelor programmes are: Engineering, Architecture, Design and Business. Master programmes in offering are: MBA, EMBA, MSCM, M.A. in Leadership and Innovation in Contemporary Media.
• INSEAD in Abu Dhabi – one of the best business schools in the world (2nd place for MBA).

Master programmes are offered, alongside Executive Masters and PhD. The most preferred programmes are MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Masters in Finance and PhD in Management.

• American University of Sharjah – private university, ranked 7th in the Arab region. Has a very multicultural environment with students from more than 90 countries. Bachelor and Master programmes that are being offered are in field like Mass Communication, Architecture, IT, Business Administration and Аrt.
• Canadian University in Dubai