UAE's higher education institutes are coming of age

The UAE has one of the youngest higher education systems in the world. United Arab Emirates University, the leading teaching and research institution in the country, was established in 1976 in Al Ain. With just four decades since the beginning of higher education in the country, the UAE has overcome numerous obstacles to position itself as a significant educational hub.
In terms of higher education provision, Dubai is home to over 60 higher education institutions (HEI), of which 27 are international branch campuses of reputed universities.
Along with the provision of higher education, the international HEIs also brought in the "culture of education". International HEIs brought sweeping changes in the manner education was imparted in the country - gender segregation was taken away, rote learning was reduced, lecture classes were altered to interactive classes and students started to stay as near as possible to the university/college.
Initially international HEIs in the UAE in general had day scholars attending their classes as it predominantly attracted expatriates who resided within the same emirate where the HEI was located. Soon, these international HEIs based in Dubai attracted students from the entire UAE as well as from neighbouring countries. There were numerous reasons why students flocked to these entities - niche programmes in new multidisciplinary areas, interactive, collaborative, and experiential teaching and learning approaches, and perhaps most importantly, the unique combination of 21st century competencies (initiative, teamwork, communication) were inculcated through higher education.
Soon HEIs started to offer live-in campus experience as it had to constantly compete against each other to attract students not only from across the country, but also from countries within four hour flying distance. Student accommodations are no more another apartment block where they will stay in a corner of the city and will be ferried in a university bus. The international branch campuses aim to offer higher education similar to what it provides at its parent campus in its entirety, including the all inclusive campus experience, where the students reside within the university premises.
All these changes one sees in the UAE higher education are part of higher education evolution. From three classrooms distance education institutes to full-fledged campuses, HEIs in Dubai are on the right route.