In a little more than a year, a large pair of scissors will come across a large red ribbon and thus mark the inauguration of nothing short of the world’s biggest experiment in higher education. NYU Abu Dhabi will welcome its first students. As detailed in a recent two-part report by John Gravois in The National (Part I, Part II), NYU administrators have aggressively sought to preempt many of the challenges plaguing other Western degree programs in the Gulf, namely low student enrollment and an inability to recruit and then retain faculty.
NYUAD’s team on the ground has been given a sizable time window (at least in relative terms) through which to problem solve. The ambitious project was first announced in October 2007. By way of contrast, Michigan State University was asked to set up shop in neighboring Dubai inside of a year. Despite offering coursework with obvious links to the local economy (including degree programs in Business Administration and Construction Project Management), MSU-Dubai has experienced early troubles with enrollment, attracting just 40 students in 2008-2009.
For the fall of 2010 NYUAD will take in no more than 100 students but then projects to grow– and grow quickly– to 2,000 undergraduates and 800 graduates. To arrive at these numbers NYUAD is employing a strategy that is surprising as it represents a marked break from regional precedent.
The case of Qatar Foundation and its Academic Bridge Program serve as perhaps the most prominent divergence. Qatar Foundation sets enrollment targets for Qatari nationals and each of the six American universities located in Doha’s Education City. Even as the targets are non-binding, the Bridge Program gives an additional year to two years of preparatory schooling for Qataris transitioning to university. In so doing, the available pool of qualified local students is increased and low numbers across the Education City campuses are given a boost.
NYUAD has taken an entirely separate approach. The enrollment of a desired number of Emiratis is neither explicit nor implicit. University President John Sexton believes that UAE nationals are likely to be only a tiny percentage of the student population and he is unabashed in saying so. There is no preparatory, foundation year program. Instead, Sexton and NYUAD have ramped up admissions requirements and dubbed the Abu Dhabi venture NYU’s “honors college.” The “global education” offered at NYUAD will attractively combine with unparalleled financial aid packages– international students who would otherwise attend the Ivies (or else NYU’s Washington Square campus) will opt for freshman orientation Gulf-style. An estimated 40 to 50% of the student body will be made up of Americans.
By all accounts, NYUAD will open its doors with an impressive faculty. Whether the university can reach a total of 2,800 enrolled students, however, remains to be seen. Some observations about their efforts to date:
1) There will assuredly be dynamic tension between the appeal of an exciting, newly-established institution– indeed, perhaps the beginnings of the future of higher education itself– and a half-formed university experience. With less than 100 first-year students, the extracurricular opportunities on offer are sure to be limited. Abu Dhabi is likely to be a jarring introduction to the American freshman who traditionally stays in-country for his or her undergraduate experience (and all the more so given the UAE’s average highs of 102 degrees Fahrenheit in September). Whether NYUAD will be able to retain students from one year to the next is a question that needs considering.
2) There will assuredly be tension, no less dynamic, inspired by the availability of world-class education– expensively funded by the Emirate– and its inaccessibility to the local population. Relative to Dubai, Abu Dhabi has long-demonstrated a consistent uneasiness with the course and speed of societal change, the size and composition of its expatriate population and the loss of local heritage and culture. The issue of NYUAD’s labor policy has already cropped up and could become particularly thorny. In the absence of a large Emirati student contingent, NYUAD’s ability to meaningfully link up with the community and its existing universities becomes all the more vital.
3) Lastly, NYU is wisely utilizing the Institute of International Education toward identifying potential applicants. The IIE (the American non-profit responsible for administering the Fulbright) does not have a relationship with neighboring Iran. Before its Revolution, Iran had the single highest population of international students in American universities. NYUAD’s success in enrolling even a handful of students from Iran would do more than add to student numbers. It would also bolster Sexton’s case for the emergence of the Global Network University and its potential implications for the 21st century.
-SW
“With less than 100 first-year students, the extracurricular opportunities on offer are sure to be limited. Abu Dhabi is likely to be a jarring introduction to the American freshman who traditionally stays in-country for his or her undergraduate experience…”
Very true, but just imagine if this were a graduate experience. Even though I already have a graduate degree, if this were a graduate program I would consider dropping everything that I am doing and apply for whatever program is offered, just for the opportunity. Study abroad, good university, seemingly no expense spared, small class size. Wow. It almost seems like it is wasted on a typical undergrad freshman who probably cannot fully grasp or enjoy the value.