Omm El Donia is eyeing a bigger slice of the global higher education market: The government and private sector have been working over the past years to attract more international students into the country’s universities. At home, universities are gaining ground in some global rankings (despite a mixed performance in others), a weakening EGP is rendering the cost of living increasingly attractive for foreigners, and new universities and programs are sprouting nationwide. As the academic environment picks up, the government is looking to tap into this potential to draw in more students, particularly from the Gulf and Africa, where similar capabilities are absent but culture is vastly similar, a source at the Higher Education Ministry told Enterprise.

We have the legislative, curricular, and physical infrastructure: Regulations by the Higher Education Ministry require local universities to form academic partnerships with “well-established” international universities ahead of receiving or renewing their licenses to operate. Additionally, a slew of new universities have opened over the past several years as part of the government’s strategy to bolster the higher education system and keep up with the global marketplace. This newfound capacity in the sector has left universities with thousands of vacant seats that the sector is eager to fill, said President of Badr University in Cairo (BUC) Mostafa Kamal (LinkedIn).

International student enrollment rates are picking up: Over 40k international students have applied for undergraduate studies for the 2023-2024 academic year through the government’s college admission platform for public and private universities, up at least 16.3% from the 34.4k students who applied last year, our source at the Higher Education Ministry told us. Some 75.3% of those who applied last year saw their applications through till enrollment. Enrollment rates are expected to continue their upward trajectory, said Future University President Ebada Sarhan (LinkedIn), adding that around 60k international students are expected to join universities in Egypt in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Where do these students hail from? The greatest share of international students joining undergraduate programs here in the 2022-2023 academic year came from Sudan, with some 7.4k students enrolling, according to our ministry source. The Sudanese cohort was followed by Kuwaiti and Algerian students, of which a combined 3.3k applicants joined. The post graduate category was led by 773 Kuwaiti students. Coming in second place by a wide margin was Syria, from which 116 students enrolled. More broadly, medical programs received the greatest number of applications from international students.

What’s the scope of our higher education landscape, anyway? Below is a breakdown of the 92 universities that operate in the country, according to the Higher Education Ministry:

  • 28 public universities
  • 27 private universities
  • 20 nonprofit national universities
  • 10 technological universities
  • 7 international branch campuses (IBCs)

The government has a new education management company in the works: The Higher Education Ministry is setting up a company to plan and market higher education, our government source said. The company would work to attract international students from the world over by promoting Egyptian universities.

And is gearing up for the promotional legwork: The ministry is set to launch two roadshows in Saudi Arabia and Jordan next month to promote educational programs and facilities in Egypt, our source at the ministry said. The roadshows will include representatives of public and private universities as well as branches of international universities.

So what are the sector’s selling points? In addition to the diverse range of quality programs and curricula that the local education sector offers, the country is an attractive destination for international students both financially and culturally, our government source said. While international students are required to pay tuition fees in USD, the devaluation has lowered the cost of living in Egypt and the ministry is targeting more students as a result, the source explained.

The private sector has a pivotal role to play: Not only is there a need for a centralized government plan, but also for individual marketing efforts on the part of each university aimed at spotlighting the distinct specializations and services that it offers, Kamal said. Private university Akhbar El Yom Academy has been independently working to market its offering abroad, holding exhibitions in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kuwait that have helped it reel in a greater number of international students, he said. Other universities need to follow suit by ramping up their marketing efforts and rolling out more orientation programs aimed at helping international students assimilate into the culture, Kamal said.

Some loopholes remain to be addressed: Because transnational programs are expensive to implement, many local universities have inked agreements to partner up with international institutions without actually bringing any joint programs online, one private sector source told us. In order to attract more international students, the Higher Education Ministry should issue regulations requiring local universities to activate these partnerships, our source added.

Accreditation is a key area for improvement: The first step to ramping up the number of international students in Egypt is to work on accrediting more universities, Sarhan said. International students and the governments that finance their studies abroad often overlook private universities that they haven’t heard of due to lack of accreditation, with the vast majority opting for public universities, he explained.

Your top education stories for the week:

  • Cosmic Village schools open their doors: The Sovereign Fund of Egypt on Thursday inaugurated four schools through partnerships with private sector companies including CIRA as part of the first phase of the Cosmic Village development project.
  • Egyptian universities make it into the global top 50 for medical engineering, textile sciences, and agricultural sciences, according to Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects for 2023. (Statement)
  • CIRA wraps up second future flow securitization: EGX-listed education provider CIRA Education closed its second future flow issuance worth EGP 700 mn as part of a larger EGP 2 bn program.
  • EEP eyes KSA expansion: EFG Hermes-backed Egypt Education Platform (EEP) is studying the possibility of launching in Saudi Arabia within the next 12-18 months.
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