Dubai universities record 20% increase in student enrolment

Higher education institutes in the UAE have seen a 20 per cent increase in student enrolment for the academic year 2024-25. A total of 42,026 students are now enrolled at 41 private colleges, universities and other higher education institutions in Dubai — the highest number to date.

Emirati student enrolment in the private higher education sector also grew by a record 22 per cent during the current academic year.

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The number of international students, those who have come to Dubai specifically to study, has also continued to rise, with a 29 per cent increase in enrolment compared to the previous year. International students now make up 35 per cent of the total student body at private higher education institutions in Dubai.

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Under the Education 33 (E33) strategy’s, Dubai aims for international students to make up 50 per cent of the total student body by 2033 — a target that reflects the emirate’s commitment to becoming a global hub for quality higher education.

Earlier this year, at the Khaleej Times UniExpo event, experts had shared that many parents were choosing not to send their children abroad for studies, preferring to keep them in the UAE. Some even shared that the first question parents asked foreign university representatives was whether they had campuses in the UAE.

Universities

Of the 41 institutes in Dubai, 37 are international campuses, offering a growing and diverse range of academic programmes to meet the needs of future-focused learners. Four new international universities opened in Dubai during the 2024-25 academic year, from countries across the world including China, India, Russia, and Italy. 

The emirate has become a hotspot for some of the best universities around the world to open up campuses in. Earlier this year, during Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s India visit, The Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), one of Asia’s leading business schools and India’s top-ranked business schools, to establish a world-class IIMA campus in Dubai. 

The institute will be allocated space within the Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) where it will launch its one-year full-time MBA Programme later this year.