Dwindling incomes. Caps on international student numbers. A spluttering global economy. The challenges facing universities are wide-ranging and well-reported – which is leading them to seek out some creative solutions for their growing list of problems.
And right now, it seems like plenty are deciding that transnational education is the answer to most of them. TNE, which is when a university delivers qualifications in a different country to its home campus, offers a list of potential benefits that reads more like a wishlist for schools.
“Some may wish to scale their university but lack space on their home campuses, so are seeking to build campuses overseas,” explains Steve Thomas, a UK-based higher education consultant.
“Others may wish to grow their alumni base by building franchise operations, also hoping to make a financial return. There is also the benefit of global visibility: having a prominent name in key markets can help with direct international student recruitment.”
TNE is not a new phenomenon, but it’s certainly a growing one. And nowhere is it growing faster than in the Middle East. Between 2018 and 2022, UK TNE numbers in the region increased by more than 40% – quicker than anywhere else.
American universities such as Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown and Northwestern have a long-established presence in Qatar, whilst the UAE has slowly become a hotbed for UK universities since Heriot-Watt became the first to establish a campus there in 2005.
So why the Middle East, and why now? According to Thomas, it’s partly as a result of global trends that have long shaped university strategy. The Middle East is simply the latest region to fit the criteria for TNE.
“We’ve been here before,” he recalls. “Back in the late 1990s, UK universities started to move into Southeast Asia in response to the Asian financial crisis. Many of the drivers for TNE then were the same as they have been in other regions since: large and growing youth populations under-served by quality local supply, supportive government policy, and need for a skilled workforce.”
“Now we’re seeing institutions that think they are behind the curve on TNE wanting to catch up, and this is sparking much of the current interest.”
Now we’re seeing institutions that think they are behind the curve on TNE wanting to catch up, and this is sparking much of the current interest
Steve Thomas, higher education consultant
Thomas also notes the Middle East’s sizeable youth population, increasing demand for quality higher education and growing economic power as factors behind the growth in TNE.
Meanwhile, Lily Bi, president and CEO of AACSB International, has observed a “growing interest” in business school accreditation in the region, something she puts down to both geographic and economic factors.
“The Middle East’s location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa makes it a central hub for global business and education,” she says. “Leaders in the region have also prioritised education as a cornerstone of their development plans, as seen in initiatives like Saudi Vision 2030, Qatar National Vision 2030 and UAE Vision 2021.”
Up until now, the UAE has been the cornerstone of TNE in the region. INSEAD was one of the first business schools to establish a presence there, opening its first Abu Dhabi campus in 2010 before moving to a bigger site in 2017. Now, its Middle East campus is a key component of the school’s executive MBA program, which is ranked in the top 10 globally by the Financial Times.
But INSEAD certainly isn’t the only school to establish a presence there. Leicester De Montfort University opened its Dubai campus in 2021, and earlier this year they moved to a brand new 85,000 sq ft campus. According to pro vice-chancellor international Simon Bradbury, all of the schools in the region have seen a rapid expansion in student numbers. Again, location is playing a big part in that.
“It has been driven, curiously I think, by growth in international student numbers – not expat students. Students coming in from India in particular. We see opportunities in this being a potential hub for recruiting students from there into Dubai, into Leicester. So there are much broader opportunities than just opening a campus here, particularly when you put it in the context of wider international students.”
Besides the location of Dubai, it’s also an easy place to do business. “The regulatory environment for education is very straightforward – it’s not difficult to operate here,” says Bradbury. “It is much more straightforward than it is in other countries that we operate, which are much more complicated in terms of those regulations. So I think that makes a difference.”
Relaxed regulation certainly helps a university establish an international presence, and the success of the UAE as a TNE destination proves that. Now, it looks like the next frontier for TNE in the Middle East is on the way.
In 2023, the government of Saudi Arabia introduced new legislation that paved the way for foreign universities to open a branch campus in the country. Not long after, it was announced that five universities were planning to establish a campus in Saudi Arabia: Arizona State University, University of Wollongong, University of Strathclyde, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and IE University.
A spokesperson from the University of Wollongong in Australia told The PIE News that the school was invited to establish a presence in Saudi Arabia because of its long-standing presence in the region. “We were awarded an Investment License by the Saudi Ministry of Investment earlier this year, and work continues to explore this opportunity in more detail.”
Santiago Iñiguez, executive president of Spain’s IE University, said the decision to expand their operations to Saudi Arabia was a “natural evolution of our presence in the Kingdom”. The school, which has run program in Saudi Arabia for 18 years, plans to deliver courses that mirror their offering in Madrid.
But it remains to be seen whether IE’s plans for Saudi Arabia will be as straightforward to deliver as other countries in the region. New legislation may have paved the way for foreign universities to move to Saudi Arabia, but the higher education landscape there remains very different.
For instance, although the majority of graduates in the country are women, they were only permitted to study without the permission of a male guardian in 2018, and the country still has a number of female-only universities. Overall, Saudi Arabia ranked 126th out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report. For a university based in Spain, which was ranked 10th in the same report, those differences could be difficult to overcome.
There’s also the question of whether Saudi Arabia can act as a regional hub for foreign universities in the same way that the UAE has for De Montfort. Tourist numbers are increasing in Saudi Arabia, but it has yet to establish itself as a destination like Dubai. “There are a lot of families that might consider sending their kids to Dubai that have been here on holiday. So they know a little bit about the place or they have a second home, which has a familiarity to it,” Bradbury explains.
Despite the challenges, these schools are unlikely to be the last to open a foreign campus in Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year the British Council published a report looking into TNE opportunities for UK universities in the country, who may see it as a vital source of income amidst budget concerns and caps on international student numbers.
However, it’s important that universities don’t see TNE in the Middle East as an easy source of income. Thomas cautions that making money from TNE has always been “challenging”, citing the need to charge lower fees and split them with a local partner. “The key is for an institution to be very clear on the objectives before they start.”
At a time when universities are facing stronger headwinds than ever before, plenty more may well decide that TNE in the Middle East is a challenge worth taking on. “Like any region there will be specific obstacles to overcome,” says Thomas, “but the potential is certainly there.”
