It also features photos and video tours. So far 675 of the 1,055 universities in the region are listed.

“In higher education there isn’t one website that covers the whole world”

“In the region we don’t have independent rankings, student ratings or access to information on what universities offer,” Amer Tahboub, managing director at Media and I, Uni and I’s parent company, told The PIE News.

“With this site, however, you can review all the universities in Gulf Cooperation Council countries in under an hour.”

He said the site would benefit high school-age students in countries from Turkey to Jordan and Morocco. It is available in Arabic and English, and will soon be in French. Universities can join for around US$270 a year.

Media and I now plans to list the more than 18,000 universities worldwide on its site by 2014. It will also add features such as a student ratings system and social networking function. It even hopes to accept direct enrolments.

“There are a lot of universities websites but all are focusing on their regions,” he said. “We are planning to be global. In higher education there isn’t one website that covers the whole world.”