Higher education in the Arab world is non-compulsory, formal study undertaken after secondary school across the 22 Arab states. Systems vary from country to country. They have developed from early learning centers to contemporary universities and colleges. Scholarship in this sector traces institutional, legal and methodological changes across Arabic contexts. From its origins in ancient centers of learning to the modern institutions shaping intellectual discourse today, the sector has undergone significant transformations throughout history.
The Arab world is also home to one of the oldest universities in the world, The oldest university in the world in continuous operation is the Ez-Zitouna University located in Tunisia, established in 737 AD first as a Madrasa then as a university. Despite the religion's dominance, in Madrasas students could learn about science, philosophy, mathematics, art, and many other subjects. Al-Azhar University was initially established in the tenth century C.E. in Cairo as a center for men to study Islamic law and theology, and now offers many academic disciplines to both male and female students. Histories of higher education in the Arab world trace lines from institutions of the Islamic scholarly tradition in the Islamic Golden Age to nineteenth- and twentieth-century universities shaped by colonial administration and nationalist reform. Aside from al-Azhar, many modern institutions began as colonial or missionary foundations established by European or U.S. sponsors in the early nineteenth century. They were few and largely served urban elites.Mazawi, Andre Elias (2005). "Contrasting perspectives on higher education governance in the Arab states," in Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, 20: 133-189.
Higher education in the region has grown dramatically and has experienced many changes, since its beginnings in the colonial period, and especially since the middle of the twentieth century. In the 21st century, the Arab world's higher education sector faces numerous challenges amid opportunities brought by globalization and technological advancement. Quality assurance, accessibility, relevance, and brain drain are key concerns, prompting stakeholders to engage in dialogue and implement measures for improvement. Though significant differences exist between higher education sectors in each country of the Arab world, some general trends are evident, including navigating the forces of globalization and attempts to increase access and gender equality. Despite significant changes, Arab universities continue to receive relatively poor evaluations from the major global university-ranking systems.
Contemporary history Until the middle of the twentieth century, ten universities existed in the region, including the American University of Beirut (then called Syrian Protestant College), Université Saint Joseph in Beirut, Cairo University (then called the Egyptian University), University of Algeria, and University of Damascus (then called Syrian University). With the decline of official European colonialism and the independence of Arab countries after WWII, higher education institutions and student enrollment quickly multiplied. While pre-independence institutions were primarily private and foreign-operated, post-independence universities were largely public, state-run institutions. During this period a clear hierarchy among academic disciplines was developed; students with higher grades in secondary school were admitted into the science faculties, while "weaker" students were placed into social sciences, humanities, and Islamic studies.
In the post-war period, the number of universities in the Arab world increased; many existing madrasas and religious schools became part of the formal higher education system. The University of al-Qarawiyyin, which is sometimes considered the oldest university or oldest continually operation institution of higher learning in the world, became part of the modern Moroccan state university system in 1963; prior to this, it was run effectively as a madrasa.Lulat, Y. G.-M.: A History Of African Higher Education From Antiquity To The Present: A Critical Synthesis Studies in Higher Education, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, , p. 70: Lulat, Y. G.-M.: A History Of African Higher Education From Antiquity To The Present: A Critical Synthesis, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, , pp. 154–157
Instability, globalization, and a general economic downturn in many Arab countries led to new reformist trends in higher education beginning in the 1980s and continuing today. The various reform movements are debated among the various stakeholders (governments, local and foreign institutions, students, citizens), and take on different characteristics in each Arab country. These (not always successful) reforms and trends include increasing privatization, calls for greater access, improving the capability of universities to meet the demands of society, matching educational "outputs" with labor market needs, and negotiating a competitive global education market.Bhandari, Rajika and El-Amine, Adnan (2012). Higher Education Classification in the Middle East and North Africa, New York, NY: Institute of International Education.
There has been tremendous growth in higher education in the Arab world since the last years of the twentieth century. Student enrollment has jumped from roughly 3 million students in 1998/99 to about 7.5 million students in 2007/08, while the number of universities has grown almost three-fold in the same time period. Higher education in the region has also trended toward increased privatization, though considerable differences occur between countries; Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, and the UAE have the highest percentage of students enrolled in private universities (above 50 percent), while Iraq, Libya, Morocco, and Sudan have the lowest percentage of enrollment in private universities (20 percent or less).
In universities today, Islamic studies, social sciences, and the humanities are typically taught in Arabic, while "hard" sciences, technology, and medicine are usually taught in English or French (based on previous colonial rulers). Instruction in Arabic is almost exclusively carried out in Modern Standard Arabic, as opposed to the various colloquial dialects. Some countries have proposed – and to various degrees, enacted – policies to increase the amount of instruction in Arabic. This so-called "Arabization" of higher education is a highly contested issue that is infused with a variety of political and cultural debates in different Arab countries.
Globalization
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, education has been identified by many as the essential means of preparing citizens to compete in a "knowledge-based" global economy. In higher education, globalization and rising inter-connectivity is manifested in a variety of trends, such as a growing number of students who receive degrees from universities outside their country of origin, the increasing number of students, especially from the U.S., who participate in study abroad programs,Hoffa, William and DePaul, Steven (2010). "Introduction," in Hoffa and DePaul (Eds) A History of U.S. Study Abroad: 1965-Present, A special publication of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 1-13. the emergence of international "branch" campuses, the presence of international faculty, and global higher education ranking systems. Globalization strategies worldwide have led to an increasingly homogenized higher education sector, as governments and institutions seek to meet global standards.Donn, Gari and Al Manthri, Yahya (2010). Globalisation and Higher Education in the Arab Gulf States, Oxford: Symposium Books. Furthermore, some scholars have argued that increasing globalization has actually led to a contemporary form of imperialism, in which economic and cultural norms and discourses are imposed by dominant nations on weaker nations.Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2003). "Globalization as Empire," in D. Held and A. McGrew (Eds) The Global Transformations Reader: an Introduction to the Globalization Debate, Cambridge: Polity Press, 11-119.Yang, R. (2003). "Globalisation and Higher Education Development: A Critical Analysis," International Review of Education, 49(1), 269-291.
In recent years, member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been debating the application of the General Agreement on Trades in Services (GATS) to the field of higher education. This free-trade policy affects the status of non-national education providers, including the recognition of degrees earned from such institutions, and has implications on access to and quality of education, economic development and innovation. Arab members of the WTO have been hesitant to negotiate trade agreements related to GATS and the free trade of educational services (though several Arab countries allow foreign institutions to operate within their borders). Among the concerns shared by opponents of the free trade of education is the possibility that GATS will marginalize or eliminate national universities that cannot compete financially with trans-national institutions; that the rise of non-national institutions will erode the native cultural aspects of education; and that a free-trade educational environment would reduce access to higher education and become an "elitist system." Proponents of GATS, meanwhile, argue that the free-trade policy will lead to increased efficiency, improved educational programs, and lower costs for students.
Cassidy highlights several areas that Arab higher education institutions must address in order to effectively train students in the contemporary, globalized era, including the ability to effectively utilize new technologies, the capability and willingness to collaborate on a global scale, and the flexibility to adapt in variable circumstances. Some scholars and educators have pushed the conversation further, wondering whether universities across the globe should develop universal standards and benchmarks. Some educators argue that standardization would help universities develop along an educational "road map," while others maintain that diversification is a great strength of higher education, and even doubt that such global standards could be developed; other education professionals, meanwhile, contend that the global ranking systems are already beginning to fill the role of global standardization.Fischer, Karin (2014). Seeking Global Quality Control for Universities, Al-Fanar Media.
International universities in the Gulf nations