Despite the difficulties some US institutions have in attracting students to their UAE campuses, the head of New York University's proposed branch in Abu Dhabi is confident that finding good-quality students will not be a problem. Mariet Westermann, the vice chancellor of the forthcoming NYU campus on Saadiyat Island, said the university would recruit students from across the region and beyond and was not just planning to take young people from the UAE.
George Mason University, which began degree programmes in Ras al Khaimah in 2006, and Michigan State University, which starts courses in Dubai this month, have recruited far fewer students than predicted. In its first year, George Mason had fewer than 40 students on bachelor's degree courses compared with a target of 200, while Michigan State is likely to have 70 at most when it launches at Dubai International Academic City, despite earlier predictions that there would be 200.
The institutions had expected strong demand from young people keen to secure a degree from an American university, but who preferred to study in an Arab country. The UAE has several well-established American-curriculum universities, some accredited by US bodies, but until George Mason opened there were no degree-awarding branch campuses of US universities. Dr Westermann said she was confident NYU's new branch, funded by Abu Dhabi emirate, would be "up to speed" in finding "real top talent".
"I think we've been very mindful that we need to have a very rigorous [recruitment process] so we have a cosmopolitan student population," she said. "We feel very confident that we can have a very strong and well-prepared student population. Our pursuit is a worldwide process and our sense is that, in the region we're looking at, we can find a strong entrance class." She described Abu Dhabi as a "very forward-looking place", and said the "transformative character" of the society would attract students.
Recruitment would focus, she said, on the Middle East and South Asia, although some students were likely to come from outside this area. NYU has said it will not admit any student to Abu Dhabi who would not gain entry to its main campus in Washington Square, New York. Due to open in 2010, the Saadiyat Island branch will have space for 2,000 undergraduates, 800 postgraduates and 200 students on foundation courses.
George Mason University, using the former Ras al Khaimah Men's College premises, aims to have about 2,000 students. The university opened in 2005 with an English-language programme and began undergraduate courses a year later. Last year, undergraduate enrolment increased to 83, a number the university hopes to double in the coming academic year. "It's been a period to learn lessons about challenges with language and integrating into the community," said Professor Zaid Adib Ansari, the acting vice president of the RAK campus.
Prof Ansari said RAK may not seem as attractive a place for young people to live as Dubai or Abu Dhabi and this could partly explain the modest interest from applicants. Nevertheless, the university hopes to reach its full capacity of 2,000 within seven to nine years. A spokesman for Michigan State University said it had struggled to attract applicants with good English-language skills and so had lowered the minimum score requirement on tests. "The students now entering universities have not had the benefit of the current [emphasis on] English throughout the UAE," she said. "That's been a key component [in not recruiting as many students as expected]."
Prof Ansari said the branch's lack of general business degrees might also have dampened numbers, so the campus might offer different courses. "We originally thought we would have more students, but many made their decisions far earlier in the year and I also think there's more of a business focus in Dubai on the part of students," she said. "Awareness will grow and our programme offerings will increase next year."
@Email:dbardsley@thenational.ae
