Balamand University
expands to Dubai

Starting with four specialties

University of Balamand (UoB) will open a campus in Dubai in September 2016. The university will be providing four specializations as a start, including engineering, IT, pre-medicine, and architecture.

Michel Najjar, Vice Chairman of UoB, said: “We are partnering with Dubai Investment Group (DIG) for the establishment of a university in the UAE, upon their request.”

Najjar said that the Dubai Government found that there are common denominators with UoB and the latter can understand the country’s educational needs.

UoB Dubai will not only target Lebanese who live there but also Emiratis and all nationalities that are present there.

The university development will be financed mainly by DIG. UoB will be mostly providing the management and knowhow.

The university will have a total land plot of 100,000 square meters. The first building has been finalized and has a total built-up area of 10,000 m2. It has the capacity to accept 1,000 students as a start. Other buildings will be built in the near future.

The university will include professors from different nationalities, and a team of professors will go from Lebanon for teaching.

Najjar said that several specializations will be integrated into the educational system gradually, after studying the market needs.

UoB is the second university to expand outside the country after University of Saint Joseph (USJ), which has a Law School in Dubai.