AURAK Reaches Top 50 in Rankings of Arab Universities

Dr Ahmad Bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, a UAE Cabinet Minister and the Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills, and heads of universities from the region including the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK), attended a reception in Dubai at which they received certificates marking their regional rankings.

AURAK has reached the Top 50 in the Arab world and tenth in the United Arab Emirates, according to the World University Rankings – Arab World 2020 report released by the UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds agency. AURAK came in equal 50 position in the annual survey, up from its ranking in the segment between 61 and 70 last year.

“I’m happy to be at this important event, which we should all celebrate – with not just the release of the ranking – but celebrate the consistent improvement in the quality of education in the United Arab Emirates,” Dr Al Falasi said.

Professor Dr Mohamed Yousif Baniyas, Director, Commission for Academic Accreditation at the Ministry of Education, several Arab region ambassadors and cultural attaches also attended the reception at the Intercontinental Hotel Dubai Festival City.

“This is a significant milestone on the road to success that would not have been possible without the hard work of every member of the AURAK family and your unconditional support,” said AURAK President, Professor Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim.

King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia came in first spot, followed by the American University of Beirut in Lebanon in second, and the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, another Saudi institution, in third place.

Ashwin Fernandes, Regional Director for MENA and South Asia at QS Quacquarelli Symonds, said “This edition features 130 universities, across 16 countries from the Arab region. Statistics show that there are approximately 1,200 universities across the region, so this ranking features the elite top 10% of such universities and institutions of higher learning.”

The United Arab Emirates has 13 universities among those ranked in the region.

“Once again, the region’s most international universities can be found in the United Arab Emirates. This reflects the nation’s reputation as a destination country for internationally mobile, highly-skilled professionals. The UAE is home to the 12 of the 15 universities possessing the highest proportion of international faculty in the region: only three Saudi Arabian universities disrupt this monopoly,” the report said.

The methodology for the regional ranking is based on 10 indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, papers per faculty, citations per paper, staff with PhD, proportion of international faculty and proportion of international students, Web impact and international research network.