Universities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have cemented their position as the region's best after taking up four of the top five positions in a new education league table.
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia, which has an acceptance rate of 4 per cent, is the number one higher education institution in the Arab world for the second year in a row in the QS World University Rankings: Arab Region 2025, released by global higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds on Friday.
The UAE's Khalifa University of Science and Technology was in fourth place, up from seventh last year and United Arab Emirates University came fifth, a rise from sixth in the 2024 listings. Qatar University clinched second spot, up from third, while Saudi Arabia's King Saud University was placed in third, down from second.
“The UAE's performance in this ranking is exceptional, positioning it as a standout in the Arab region for its highly international faculty and student cohorts, strong research output and ability to attract global talent," said Ben Sowter, senior vice president at QS.
“Emirati universities excel across the board, achieving the region’s highest average scores in six of QS's 10 indicators. Its overall score also ranks as the highest in the region, underscoring the significant concentration of academic quality within the country. While the UAE’s research agenda is among the most impactful, its academic reputation, though strong, does not yet fully reflect the scale of its academic achievements.”
What changed in this year's league table?
Historically famous universities such as the American University of Beirut, founded in 1866, featured lower down on the list of the top 20 universities in the Arab region, dropping down to sixth from fourth place last year. The American University in Cairo featured in 13th, having come 11th in 2024's list.
"Traditional leaders such as The American University in Cairo, American University of Beirut and American University of Sharjah have not done as well in these rankings – even though their reputation among students, parents and the local community continues to be very strong,” said Senthil Nathan, managing director and co-founder of Edu Alliance, a higher education consultancy based in the UAE and US. “Some of these universities have been there for more than 100 years, which means they have done things well and have built a reputation. Their alumni are ministers and prime ministers all over the region."
Dr Nathan said King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals had focused on building its artificial intelligence capabilities and all its students studied AI at some level. The university has also been boosted since it opened admissions for women in 2021.
“King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals’ rise is fully justifiable – as the university has been on a major transformation and has AI-driven initiatives over the past four years," he said. “But what has happened in just in three or four years now is that 40 per cent of its undergraduate students, mostly in engineering, are women. That is a tremendous thing.
“When universities do something major thing, it is understandable that they get recognition. No university in the region comes close to it in terms of acceptance. It's a very low acceptance rate, which means it's highly popular and lots of students want to join but only four out of 100 get in."
Global recognition
At 176th, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia was the best-ranked higher education institution in the Arab region in Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025, published last week, while UAE University ranked in the 251-300 segment.
Mr Sowter said the Arab region was steadily enhancing its academic standing, driven by a network of international partnerships and research to boost its global reputation.
The 2025 QS rankings span 20 Arabic countries and analyses 246 universities. Each was ranked based on academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, international research network, universities’ online presence, the proportion of faculty members holding a doctorate or equivalent, number of citations, and international faculty and students.
Seven institutions across the region made the top 250 of the QS World University Rankings 2025, announced this year, with three from Saudi Arabia and two from Qatar making up the top five in the Middle East. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals led the way in 101st position – up from 180th last year – out of 1,500 universities worldwide.
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- Join parent networks
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- Keep an open mind
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
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Section 375
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
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Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
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Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
