Dubai is emerging as a destination of choice for Indian overseas aspirants as an increasing number of Indian higher education institutions (HEIs) have set up campuses to meet the demand-supply gap in engineering and technology.
Industry experts claim that the number of student admissions in Dubai has increased three-fold in the last five-years from 5-6% to almost 15%.
“The United Arab Emirates encourages well-established universities to set up their campus in the Emirates.
Given the world class infrastructure and ease of access for students to pursue quality education, there is an obvious trend for Indian HEIs to set up a campus in Dubai, says Vaidyanathan Jayaraman, global dean of UG education at SP Jain School of Global Mananagement (SPJSGM), an Australian B-school with campuses in Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, and Sydney where students get to major in Finance, marketing or Entrepreneurship and Data Science.

Launchpad for global careers
While increasing job prospects have led to an increased number of enquiries from the students and their parents from India and rest of the world over the past 3 years, the pandemic has also played a role in this as parents are now looking at safer and closer-to-home study abroad options.
“The United Arab Emirates is leading the world in its vaccination roll-out programme, wherein 85% of the eligible population is already vaccinated, thus creating a safer environment for residents as well as tourists.
All of these combined with promising internship and job-placement opportunities with leading global organisations make Dubai an appealing value proposition for higher study,” says RN Saha, director, BITS Pilani Dubai Campus that has witnessed 72% surge in admission in higher degrees and PhD.
The institute provides 7.5 months of Practice School (industry internship) programme to help students transition into the corporate world, whilst developing technical and transferable skills in a global context.
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Demand for data-driven courses
“Post Covid, employers are looking for engineers with specific knowledge and skillsets in the areas of AI, Machine Learning, Data Science, Data Analytics, Software development, Supply Chain & Logistics with comprehensive managerial abilities,” Saha says.
Indian HEIs are catering to this need, giving students hands-on experience in industry scale machineries and software combined with leadership and managerial skills.
“There is a renewed interest in Computer Engineering and BSc IT programmes along with Mechatronics and Aerospace Engineering.
Increased interest in unmanned systems and travel to Mars has ignited new demand in Aerospace Engineering.
The future is also going to be robotics- driven and therefore Mechatronics is becoming a programme of interest.
In the Management domain, Business Analytics & Logistics are doing well due to a data-driven future and upsurge in door-to-door retail,” says Kavita Shukla, vice president, Student Recruitment, Amity University Dubai that has had a 10-15% increase in admission numbers year on year.
“We are being flexible and allowing freshers – unable to come physically to Dubai – to take online classes,” Shukla says.
Affordable fee structure
For most aspirants, Dubai also makes sound financial sense due to its affordable tuition fee and lower cost of living.
“UAE university fees are one-third compared to the popular study destinations such as the UK, US, Canada, European countries and Australia.
For instance, in contrast to a fee of Rs 22 lakh – 40 lakh ($30,000-$55,000) in universities in the US and other Western countries, the fees in UAE universities are much more reasonable – within the Rs 8 lakh -18 lakh ($12-$25,000) bracket.
In addition, multiple flights (3-4 hours away) to almost all the cities in India at reasonable fares, availability of a variety of cuisine and presence of a large Indian diaspora make Indian students feel at home here,” Saha adds.
Scholarship options
He explains, almost 80% of all students enrolling at the BITS Pilani Dubai can avail of some sort of scholarship which would not be limited to the tuition fees only but extend to hostel fee concessions as well.
The merit-based tuition fee scholarships offered by the institute at the entry level range from 10% to 75% on the first-year tuition fee.
At Amity University Dubai, all students coming from India can avail a standard India Bursary of 20% to ease the financial burden on parents while at the SPJSGM, the school offers scholarships and/or low-interest loans to meritorious and needy students.
Going by the new patterns in student migration across the world, especially from India which is the world’s second largest student-sending country after China, Indian students are willing to give the traditional destinations a miss and looking to Dubai for its latest industry practices and exposure to cross-cultural international environment to help kickstart their careers as a global candidate.