Tuesday, 27 October 2026Read the signal. Shape what comes next.
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Outlook 2027

Outlook 2027: Middle East and North Africa edition

Five papers from our editors on what will shape higher education in Middle East and North Africa in 2027. Data-led, sourced line by line, and written for the people who run universities.

Richard DaviesPolicy, finance and quality

Autonomy, outcomes and budget signals: how Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar steer universities

Saudi Arabia is granting universities autonomy, the UAE is regulating them on outcomes and Qatar is raising its education allocation. Behind all three sits one expectation, that institutions answer for results, just as Saudi and UAE budget figures point to flatter public spending.

SAR199bn KPMG estimate of Saudi education spending in 2025, down 2.3% on 2024

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Rachel SmithRecruitment, international and students

The Gulf as destination: UAE intakes rise 15% as fewer Gulf students head to the US

New admissions to UAE higher education institutions rose 15% in 2025–26 to more than 64,000, and Dubai's international enrolment grew 29% in 2024–25. Saudi Arabia's and Qatar's inbound pull is not quantified in that reporting, so leaders compete in a market they only partly see.

More than 64,000 New admissions to UAE higher education institutions in 2025–26, up 15%

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Sarah WilliamsonTeaching, digital and AI, and the academic workforce

Arabic-first AI is scaling fast; the harder test for the region's universities is teaching

Open Arabic language models, an AI-dedicated university and national AI targets are reshaping the region's AI landscape. The institutions most exposed are general universities whose teaching, assessment and thesis supervision were designed before capable Arabic models were openly available.

375 billion Parameters in the largest Jais 3 open Arabic model, launched October 2026

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Scott JamesResearch, innovation and industry

Saudi universities employ most of the kingdom's researchers but perform about a quarter of R&D

Saudi Arabia spent SAR 22.61 billion on R&D in 2023, and its universities employed 32,209 researchers yet funded SAR 1.17bn. As Saudi and Emirati funders build competitive and industry-facing programmes, universities must decide how to earn their share.

SAR 22.61bn Saudi Arabia's total R&D expenditure in 2023, up 17.4%

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Abigail TaylorLeadership, governance, campus and civic role

Governance is half the university news we track across the Middle East and North Africa

Leadership and governance made up 50.7% of the higher education news we tracked in the Middle East and North Africa in the 28 days to 27 October 2026. Behind the council meetings, regulators in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have set new terms for accountability.

50.7% Governance share of regional higher education news we tracked, 28 days to 27 October

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