How these universities are ranked
7 of these universities hold a QS World position, from #38 (New York University, Abu Dhabi) to #754 (Zayed University); they are listed first, in that order. The rest are ordered by research impact. United Arab Emirates University has the largest research record in this group, with 1,664,570 citations and an h-index of 335. 5 universities have neither a QS position nor a research record yet and appear at the end, marked "Not yet ranked".
Public, private and where they are
The split is 36 public to 0 private institutions. By location, Abu Dhabi (2), Sharjah (1) and Dubai (1) account for the most of those we can place. The oldest is United Arab Emirates University, founded in 1976. University of Sharjah is the largest, with 17,000 students.
What the courses look like
By level: 159 bachelor's, 96 master's, 28 phd / doctorate and 11 professional. The most common subjects are Medicine & Health Sciences (65), Business & Management (55), Engineering (47) and Computer Science & IT (38). The usual length is 4 years and 1–2 years. 100% are full-time. Start dates lean to Fall (98% of courses with a stated intake) and Spring (82% of courses with a stated intake). University of Wollongong - Dubai Campus offers the widest choice, with 52 of these courses.
What it costs
We hold indicative fees for 4 of these universities. United Arab Emirates University is the least expensive at USD 12,000 a year and Khalifa University the most at USD 15,000; the middle of the range is about USD 14,000. Check each university's own fee page before you budget — figures change every year.
