The availability of nationally accredited higher education in computer science and information technology in non-federal institutions in the United Arab Emirates

Syed Kabir Nasir ,Syeda Shahla Kabir

doi:10.1109/ctit.2011.6107934

Abstract

News of the decline of enrollment and degrees awarded in Computer Science and related domains have been around for quite a while. Different regions and countries of the World have seen changes in the enrollment trends in various educational domains over the past decade. The rise of the dot-com bubble and it's demise had affected the world economy and it caused repercussions in the other fields related to technology as well. Education has also faced pressures due to the changes in enrollment trends and changes in study preferences over the last few years. Especially, educational options in Computer Science and Information Technology have been facing some issues across the globe. In this study we look at the Computer Science and Information technology (CS/IT) study options in the United Arab Emirates - UAE. In this country, based on current enrollments, CS/IT is the 5th most popular field for study. We examined the nationally accredited degrees in CS/IT available in this country for students of all nationalities and found that there more Bachelor degrees as compared to Master degrees. In some cases there are no Master program options for students that have already completed a Bachelor in that specialization. Currently, in December 2010, the accredited Computer Studies / Information Technology options in non-federal educational institutions in UAE are: 9 Associate degrees, 25 Bachelor degrees and 10 Master degrees. There is only 1 PhD study option in CS/IT available in UAE and that too is in a federal university. We believe that our study will prove to be very useful for organizations that want to conduct a feasibility study or needs assessment analysis of the United Arab Emirates for offering new educational programs in the country especially related to the field of computing. Our study can be used to offer specializations at the masters level in the UAE community.

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