Egypt dominates 2018’s list of top universities in Arab League

Egypt dominates Times Higher Education‘s list of 2018’s best universities in the Arab World, with nine universities represented out of 32.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz University is the top university in 2018, followed by UAE’s Khalifa University (KU) and Qatar University in second and third places respectively.

Dr Tod Laursen, interim president of U said, as reported by The National:

“It was a great pleasure for me, and several other members of the KU team, to attend the THE Mena Summit in Jeddah where the latest THE Arab World Rankings were announced.

“I am so pleased with KU’s high rankings in the most recent release and proud of the efforts of our faculty, staff and students that made this possible. Attending this summit, with academics from around the world, makes clear that our university continues to advance an international reputation through our collective efforts,” he added.

Egypt’s highest-ranking institution is Beni Suef University at 10th place – it was previously a branch of Cairo University before becoming independent in 2005. Cairo’s American University, at 11th place, is an English-language and American-accredited institution which offers 36 undergraduate, 44 master’s and two PhD programs rooted in a liberal arts education, according to its website.

The Arab World Rankings is compiled based on THE‘s overall World University Rankings results and filtering out universities located in Arab League member states.

All top five institutions are located in the Middle East, and most of the institutions in the league table specialise in science and technology.

These are the top 20 institutions on this year’s list:

Arab World Ranking 2018	Arab World Ranking 2017	University	Country
1	1	King Abdulaziz University	Saudi Arabia
2	NR	Khalifa University	United Arab Emirates
3	5	Qatar University	Qatar
4	8	Jordan University of Science and Technology	Jordan
5	6	United Arab Emirates University	United Arab Emirates
6	7	American University of Beirut	Lebanon
7	9	Alfaisal University	Saudi Arabia
8	3	King Saud University	Saudi Arabia
9	2	King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals	Saudi Arabia
10	NR	Beni-Suef University	Egypt
11	13	American University in Cairo	Egypt
12	14	American University of Sharjah	United Arab Emirates
13	10	Kuwait University	Kuwait
14	NR	University of Sharjah	United Arab Emirates
15	12	Sultan Qaboos University	Oman
16	11	Suez Canal University	Egypt
17	18	Cairo University	Egypt
18	22	Mansoura University	Egypt
19	17	University of Marrakech Cadi Ayyad	Morocco
20	21	Mohammed V University of Rabat	Morocco

Source: Times Higher Education

Most international students in Saudi Arabia and the UAE originate from countries in the region such as Syria, Yemen and Jordan. For Egypt, however, the majority of students come from Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, as well as African countries like Nigeria and Somalia.

Liked this? Then you’ll love these…

Middle Eastern refugees get to study Princeton courses via this innovative approach

Saudi Arabia to eradicate illiteracy by 2024