Students leaving their home country in search of better education is not new. However, countries like the US, UK, and Australia have maintained their monopoly in hosting a large number of international students. The last decade saw a change in the direction of student migration with the emergence of lessor-known countries offering quality higher education and gaining a substantial number of students to their university campuses. The Middle East is one of the prominent regions strengthening its place in the global education arena.
Let us consider UAE, for instance. In a short period, the UAE has elevated its position globally. Its educational sector has witnessed a significant transformation mainly due to the internationalization of higher education and institutions evolving to meet future needs. Dubai, in particular, is aggressively pursuing growth of its own education capacity, with the expansion of its footprint locally, as well as through the introduction of International Branch Campuses (IBC) in “free zones”. Foreign institutions operate these campuses from countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Canada and India. Besides, these leading institutions offer the same degrees as their home campuses, with lower tuition rates and living expenses.
While the bulk of the region’s population is young, for those cohorts that are already part of the workforce, there is a need for both a culture of lifelong learning and the infrastructure that can help make such continued learning and training feasible. This is particularly necessary due to the rapid technological developments in the global labour market, even for highly educated people.
In this issue, to help our international student community who are in search of quality and affordable education, we present ’10 Must-Watch’ Business Schools in the Middle East.’ We sincerely hope that our efforts to identify the management institutions offering world-class education in the Middle East will help students from all over the world in their overseas educational journey.