Education City - Universities

Universities

Six American universities, one British university and one French university have branch campuses at Education City. They are:

• Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar School of the Arts (VCUQ). Founded in 1998, VCUQ has offered students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (4 years) in fashion design, graphic design, interior design or painting and printmaking as well as a Masters of Fine Arts in Design Studies (2 years).
• Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q). The Medical College was established by Cornell University in 2001 and offers a two-year pre-medical program followed by the four-year medical program leading to a Doctor of Medicine degree.
• Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ). TAMUQ was established in 2003 and offers undergraduate degrees in chemical, electrical, mechanical and petroleum engineering. As of 2011, it also offers a master's degree in chemical engineering.
• Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q). CMU-Q has since 2004 offered undergraduate degrees in business, computer science programs, and as of 2007 an undergraduate degree in information systems. From Fall 2011, it has recently established a joint program with Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar offering Biological Sciences and Computational Biology.
• Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar). SFS-Qatar has, since 2005, offered a four-year program leading to a bachelor's degree in foreign service.
• Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) began degree programs in journalism and communication in Fall 2008.
• HEC Paris began offering graduate executive education programs for mid-career and senior executives in 2011.
• UCL Qatar arrived in 2011 and offers postgraduate degree programmes in the areas of archaeology, conservation, cultural heritage and museum studies.

It also has one Qatari university:

• Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS). It began in 2007 by offering a Masters degree in Islamic Studies.

In light of similar arrangements recently made between Abu Dhabi and institutions such as INSEAD, New York University and Université Paris-Sorbonne, observers have noted that while the oil-rich Persian Gulf nations may be using their wealth to buy prestige through these marquee universities, the presence of these Western institutions may have a liberalizing impact on the culturally conservative region.