Top Indian business school among three new global universities to open in Dubai

Institutions from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia also to be launched in new academic year in boost to emirate's higher education offering

Students celebrate at a Dubai Opera ceremony after graduating from the Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Antonie Robertson / The National

Dubai is set to host three new international universities that will open during the 2025-26 academic year.

The Indian Institute of Management, the American University of Beirut and Saudi Arabia’s Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences will all open, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority has confirmed.

IIM’s business and management programme is ranked 27th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, while AUB has an overall QS ranking of 237.

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There is also strong interest from other major universities to open campuses in Dubai, with several in discussions or pending final approval, the KHDA said.

Dubai currently has 41 international higher education providers, 37 of which are international branch campuses.

Two British universities with campuses in Dubai are ranked among the top 100 globally by QS: the University of Manchester (35th) and the University of Birmingham (76th). Two Australian universities, also with Dubai campuses, are ranked in the top 200: Curtin University (183rd) and the University of Wollongong (184th).

Education 33 strategy

The announcement comes after Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, chaired the Dubai Executive Council last week.

During the meeting, the council approved a project to attract top international universities to the emirate and discussed the Academic and Career Guidance Policy. This, Sheikh Hamdan said, would help Emirati students in future job markets with academic and career support, setting a target that 90 per cent would find employment within six months of graduation.

The project aims to have international students comprise half of the students in higher education institutions in the emirate by 2033, contributing Dh5.6 billion and making Dubai one of the top 10 global cities for university study.

In the last academic year, overall higher education enrolment in Dubai saw a record 20 per cent increase. International student enrolment rose by 29 per cent.

A total of 42,026 students are now enrolled in Dubai, the highest number on record.

“Dubai’s initiative to attract the best global universities, endorsed by the Executive Council, reflects the emirate’s international stature,” said Dr Wafi Dawood, chief executive of the KHDA’s strategic development sector.