UAE Releases New Rankings For Higher Education Institutions

The UAE's Ministry of Education unveiled the National Higher Education Institutions Classification Framework on Thursday. The top universities in the UAE have been classified in the new framework, which provides a comprehensive and integrated overview of the country's educational system. Notably, it is the first framework of its kind in the UAE. 

The Ministry said that the classification framework does not encompass higher education institutions (HEIs) established within the last five years, those exclusively offering master’s and doctoral programs, or HEIs with revoked or suspended licenses. The Ministry mentioned on its website that the framework assesses HEIs across four primary pillars to assess their performance comprehensively. This includes research and innovation, teaching quality and student life, employment and labour market alignment, and international collaboration. 

For performance evaluation, higher education institutions were classified as Research cluster and Non-research cluster. Research cluster include universities that offer master’s and/or doctorate studies along with bachelor studies and non-research cluster include HEIs that provide bachelor’s (or lower) studies only. Based on the Framework, MoE-licensed HEIs are classified into four groups. Five UAE-based universities are included in 'Group 1' in the Research cluster. The American University of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates University, Khalifa University, Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, and New York University Abu Dhabi are the five universities in the top group.