Persian Gulf Education: after the Property Crash, a Crash of Portable Kiosk Universities………
“DUBAI // DUBAI // Michigan State University’s (MSU) branch campus in Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) says it is terminating all of its undergraduate programmes immediately, after losing millions of dollars since opening two years ago. Students at the University’s UAE outpost have been promised a freeze on fees and a complimentary return flight home each year if they relocate to the US campus following the closure of all undergraduate courses in Dubai. University chiefs bowed to student pressure and granted concessions on fees and flights home yesterday after negotiations with the students’ association. More than 100 students are enrolled on the Dubai campus’s five departments, which include child and youth development and construction project management. After hearing of the closure via e-mail, students gathered at the university’s Dubai International Academic City branch to discuss their future. Many will not be able to transfer to the US campus in East Lansing, Michigan……”
At only 100 undergraduate students in total, that is truly an outpost, more like a kiosk. I had more students than that in one of the classes I taught. How can a “university” provide adequate education with a student body this small? What choices of courses could students have? These Western universities should not get talked by glib local entrepreneurs into ventures that are risky both financially and, more important, to the reputation of some of these institutions of learning.
Cheers
mhg
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