Dubai Investments Park (DIP) is now host to the first UAE campus of Lebanon’s University of Balamand, Dubai Investments PJSC has announced.
According to Dubai Investments, the University of Balamand in Dubai (UOBD) is the first university campus in DIP. It is scheduled to open in September this year.
Spread across approximately 0.7ha of land, the campus consists of seven schools offering international curricula.
UOBD, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Investments, is the university’s first campus outside of Lebanon, where it operates five campuses.
In a statement, Dubai Investments revealed that admissions for September 2018 intake are already under way.
Licensed by the UAE Ministry of Education (MOE), UOBD will offer undergraduate programs in Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics.
All these programs are accredited by the Commission for Academic Accreditation [CAA], a government-run institutional licensure and degree accreditation department of MOE, Dubai Investments noted.
The company added that the university also intends to offer Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature, as well as Professional Teaching Diploma, upon their review and accreditation by CAA at MOE.
Khalid Bin Kalban, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dubai Investments, said: “Driven by the UAE government’s emphasis on the higher education sector and a knowledge-based economy, the private sector higher education segment in the country is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8%.
Dubai Investments is committed to playing a strong role in facilitating this knowledge-sharing. Bringing the University of Balamand in Dubai is part of this strategy.”
He added: “There is huge demand for such world-class universities among the Emiratis and Arab youth, with nearly 80% of Emiratis and Arabs preferring enrolment in local universities. Dubai Investments is confident that the new University of Balamand in Dubai campus will add a lot of value to the higher education sphere in the UAE and GCC.”
Meanwhile, Dr Walid Moubayed, CEO and vice chancellor of the University of Balamand in Dubai, commented: “The University of Balamand – Lebanon has a strong legacy of offering holistic education to equip the future generations for the competitive world. The UOBD is thrilled to bring this expertise to the UAE and GCC through its comprehensive academic programs.”
All degrees to be offered at UOBD will be based on the American model of higher education, Dubai Investments said.
