Exporting Higher Ed/Follow the Money: US universities going to UAE and Qatar

Parents Forum
1

<p>I stumbled across an article about Bryn Mawr College considering developing a campus in the UAE, and came across many others with the same idea in mind, or already there. I found this to be an interesting development.</p>

<p>Will that bubble burst, too?</p>

<p>This list is probably not very complete, but here are a few of the US names I came across....plenty of others there too, British, Canadian, French.</p>

<p>BRYN MAWR
Bryn</a> Mawr College eyeing campus in Abu Dhabi | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/12/2008
Bryn</a> Mawr College Considers Opening Campus in Abu*Dhabi - Chronicle.com</p>

<p>CARNEGIE MELLON
Carnegie</a> Mellon University in Qatar</p>

<p>HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Harvard</a> Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research</p>

<p>MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan</a> State University inaugurates its Dubai center UAE - The Official Web Site - News
MSU</a> Dubai | Michigan State University Dubai</p>

<p>NYU
Marketplace:</a> NYU Abu Dhabi sparks debate
'Emblematic</a>' Leader for NYU's Abu Dhabi Campus :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs</p>

<p>RIT
RIT</a> Dubai extends university's global reach | The Loop</p>

<p>USC association
[url=<a href="http://www.scientificblogging.com/newswire/the_american_university_in_dubai_grants_us_26million_in_scholarships_to_media_and_journalism_students_at_its_mohammed_b%5DThe"&gt;http://www.scientificblogging.com/newswire/the_american_university_in_dubai_grants_us_26million_in_scholarships_to_media_and_journalism_students_at_its_mohammed_b]The&lt;/a> American University in Dubai Grants US$26million in Scholarships to Media and Journalism Students at its Mohammed Bin Rashid<a href="with%20American%20U%20Dubai,%20which%20is%20not%20affiliated%20state-side,%20I%20don%C2%92t%20think:%20%5Burl=http://www.aud.edu/%5D::%20American%20University%20in%20Dubai%20::%5B/url%5D"&gt;/url&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>It'll be interesting to see if these satellite campuses can keep up the academic standards we have in the US. I studied abroad at American University-Dubai a year ago and it was the worst academic experience of my life. The rampant cheating and plagiarism everywhere were bad enough, but the teachers and administrators turned a blind eye to it and actually encouraged it in some cases. It may have looked really nice on the outside, but inside it was a complete shell of a university.</p>

3

<p>vig180 - Unfortunately, if those campuses are catering to Middle Eastern/Arab students, there will most likely be problems. In our 7 years overseas (Middle East, Central Asia) there were so many instances of cheating - I just lost count. I think it is part of the culture.....a "the end justifies the means" sort of thing. Now - this was by NO means the case with all the students, but there was a small, active percentage that really made things difficult for the rest. Ironically, from what I saw, the girls did great on their own, but many of the guys felt a need to succeed - no what they had to do. </p>

<p>At a different level, many years ago, the US graduate program I taught in decided to recruit in the ME. The recruiting effort stopped after a few years when the incidents of cheating got out of control.</p>

4

<p>Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism along with its School of Communications operate respective programs in Qatar. Providing educational opportunities that export concepts of a free press and support standards of quality journalism certainly sound great to me.</p>

<p>Northwestern</a> University in Qatar</p>

5

<p>a few more in Qatar....I am a little surprised at the US public schools expanding</p>

<p>Texas A&M: Education</a> without borders - Opinion</p>

<p>Virginia Commonwealth: Virginia</a> Commonwealth University in Qatar</p>

<p>Georgetown: School</a> of Foreign Service in Qatar: Georgetown University</p>

<p>expanding the look to Bahrain: NYIT, DePaul & Bentley are reported to have campuses: List</a> of universities in Bahrain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

6

<p>George Mason pulling out of UAE
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/education/01campus.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/education/01campus.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
In 2005, George Mason became one of the first American universities to open a branch campus in the United Arab Emirates — but in May, it will become the first to close its campus there, never having graduated a single student. </p>

<p>“Our partners there changed their policy three months ago with regard to the amount of subsidy they were willing to provide,” said Peter N. Stearns, the university’s provost. “They did not tell me directly, ‘We’re getting hit, you have to understand our situation,’ but given the timing, I think it’s fair to say this was about the economy.” </p>

<p>George Mason has struggled since it opened its branch in Ras al Khaymah, an emirate with neither the dazzle of Dubai nor the oil wealth of Abu Dhabi. </p>

<p>It never attracted many students, with about 120 in degree programs and 60 in its English-language program. None of the faculty members came from the home campus, there was constant turnover in the leadership, and the branch had not completed the lengthy process of gaining local accreditation. </p>

<p>In recent years, many American universities have been drawn to the Persian Gulf by lucrative deals in which a local entity — in this case, a government-supported foundation — provides all of the infrastructure and financial support, and the American university oversees the academic program. </p>

<p>New York University is setting up shop in Abu Dhabi, Michigan State in Dubai. Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern, Texas A&M and Virginia Commonwealth all have programs in Qatar.</p>

<p>And recently, Bryn Mawr has been in discussions about starting a women’s college in Abu Dhabi, although college officials did not answer repeated requests for comment about the status of the discussions.</p>

<p>But the George Mason experience highlights some of the difficulties overseas branches face. </p>

<p>To maintain their credibility, they must admit students by the same standards overseas as at their home campus......(more in article)

[/quote]
</p>

7

<p>Papa Chicken:</p>

<p>I've been following the NYU deal in Abu Dhabi ever since Swarthmore's retiring President announced that he would be the head of the NYU campus in the UAE. As the economy has whacked Dubai, I've been curious to see if there will be any slowdown in NYU's plans. I haven't seen any yet.</p>

<p>The Abu Dhabi government is building NYU a complete campus on a brand new multipurpose flagship island development along with branches of the Guggenheim and the Louvre and championship golf courses...</p>

<p>Saadiyat</a> Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

8

<p>Dubai is effed. I can't think of any possible reason why Swarthmore's retiring president would be interested in coming except hunting for high end sedans pennies on the dolar, which pretty much mirror Swarthmore's endowment. Unlike the US, you can go to jail for owing money.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Sofia, a 34-year-old Frenchwoman, moved here a year ago to take a job in advertising, so confident about Dubai’s fast-growing economy that she bought an apartment for almost $300,000 with a 15-year mortgage.</p>

<p>An abandoned car in a parking garage in Dubai. One report said 3,000 cars were sitting abandoned at the Dubai Airport.</p>

<p>“I’m really scared of what could happen, because I bought property here,” said Sofia, who asked that her last name be withheld because she is still hunting for a new job. “If I can’t pay it off, I was told I could end up in debtors’ prison.”

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Source:
The</a> New York Times > Log In</p>

9

<p>Typical NYTimes reporting. The cite as fact that 3000 cars are abandoned at the airport. The "source" for this "fact"?** "One report".**</p>

<p>What does "one report" mean? And, why can't the NYTimes cite the name of the "one report"? Was this an off-the-record report? An anonymous "report" because the report was backstabbing somebody else's report? Good grief.</p>

<p>At least Judith Miller was taking dictation (and who knows what else) from Dick Cheney for her "reporting".</p>

10

<p>Cornell University Weill College of Medicine has a campus in Qatar:</p>

<p>Weill</a> Cornell Medical College in Qatar - Home</p>

<p>Actually, buying a university "off the rack" so to speak, rather than founding it from scratch makes a lot of sense. The governments that make these arrangements are saving themselves a lot of headaches. If Weill College of Medicine is providing the faculty, the course syllabi, etc., etc. then you know for certain that your degree is indeed the same despite the distance between the two campuses.</p>

11

<p>Looks like interesteddad is about to go after the NYTimes like Chris Brown after Rihanna. =). I hate the NYTimes, too. But I read it for the occasional slips and inadvertently funny bits. Always sensationalizes everything, that NYTimes.<br>
They looked at Dubai's sister city, Detroit, and saw 300,000 unsold cars; hence, the extrapolation. I wouldn't put it pass them. </p>

<p>When I was in high school, there was an episode on Arrested Development where Charlize Theron retarded character had an idea how to make land by creating virtual island. The father then said he had a better idea, creating lands by hooking up a large platform to hot air balloon. At the time, I didn't catch they were making fun of the lunacy that is Dubai. Enough with elite colleges jumping on the bandwagon already. Good grief. Follow what money? Just because McDonald's put down a franchise there doesn't mean Cornell has to follow.</p>

12

<p>DS is planning to attend a conference in April, CMU-Qatar. He is a grad of CMU and is looking forward to see the school. The IF is he wants to spend additional time visiting more of the mid-East, IF he can find a touring friend. </p>

<p>CMU has satellite graduate campus in Oakland, CA. It also has a program with a Korean University where, Korea sends students for a year abroad. At one time CMU was looking into Singapore/Australia sites.</p>

13

<p>I don’t really understand why they’d want to have campuses in the UAE. The unis here are mostly ridiculously expensive for horrid educational standards.</p>

14

<p>I’m actually in Knowledge Village in Dubai for the next two weeks teaching an SAT prep class to high school students attending American / British schools here. The students are extremely respectful and engaged and on my flight over, a professor who was traveling to Iraq was raving about the quality of the students and how interested they are in learning. I feel like the culture is completely different here, and the students in my class are definitely interested in attending US universities. Knowledge Village is pretty gigantic and well-planned, and there are many, many universities from other countries here as well.</p>

15

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<p>I don’t get it…is there that much demand for higher education in these places from the students who would be attending to warrant building all these new universities there?</p>