Most university students coming to study in Dubai are Indian: report

DUBAI // Most university students coming from aboard to study in the emirate are Indian, according to a new report from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.

The Story Unfolds... Private Education in Dubai 2015/16 report released on Sunday says there are a total of 26,125 university students in Dubai.

Of these 67 per cent are UAE residents with 33 per cent travelling from abroad for study.

Indians make up 30 per cent of those who travel to the emirate for study.

They are followed by Egyptians at eight per cent, six per cent are Pakistanis, six per cent for Nigerians and Jordanians at five per cent.

The study shows there has been a 7.5 per cent growth in student enrolment and the emirate is now home to 26 international branch campuses from 11 countries – the most in the world.

British Higher Education institutes have the most campuses with eight, followed by India and Australia with four.

There were 5,619 graduates in 2014/15 and of these 44 per cent received a bachelors degree and 52 per cent gained a masters degree, said the report.

Two-thirds of those graduating did so in business related fields, with 13 per cent in engineering, seven per cent in media and design, six percent in information technology and four per cent in architecture and construction.

This is also reflected in the popularity of degrees and fields new students enrol in.

Bachelors degrees were top with 58 per cent enrolment, followed by masters degrees on 34 per cent, foundation on four per cent and doctorates on 1 per cent.

Again new students opted for business with 53 per cent followed by engineering on 16 per cent, information technology and media and design both on seven per cent, with architecture and construction on six per cent.

The KHDA now also licenses technical and vocational education and training providers through the Qualifications and Awards in Dubai or QAD.

As a result there are now 1,029 of these training institutes offering 32,000 courses.