Foundation to Fund STEM Education at the World’s Top Universities

Dubai, UAE – 12th December 2016:  The Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE), one of the largest privately funded philanthropic education initiatives in the world, has today announced the ten university partners for the 2017 cycle of its scholarship program. This news reflects the Foundation’s commitment to supporting the UAE’s Vision 2021 and to equip Emirati and Arab youth with the knowledge they need to become the future leaders of the region through undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

Starting from Fall 2017, Al Ghurair Scholars will be able to attend one of six new partner universities outside the Arab World, in addition to the Foundation’s four existing partner universities in the Arab World. These include McGill University, University of Waterloo, and Polytechnique Montreal in Canada; Koç University in Turkey; and Minerva Schools at KGI as well as Arizona State University (ASU) in USA. These are in addition to the American University of Sharjah (AUS), Khalifa University, the American University in Cairo (AUC) and the American University of Beirut (AUB).  These scholarships will make high quality education more accessible in the Arab world and open the doors to over three hundred relevant STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) degrees. In line with the UAE Vision 2021, some of the fields now supported through the scholarship include Health Sciences, Aerospace Engineering, Aviation Technologies, Sustainable Engineering, Nanoscience and others. 

The Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, commented on the story: “We are extremely pleased that the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education has reached such a momentous milestone.” He further added, “This is part of our commitment to provide Emirati youth with the best education to set them on the path to become well-equipped future leaders of our region. The Foundation is proud to support the UAE’s Vision by offering scholarship opportunities that will give Emirati youth the chance to prepare for building a competitive economy driven by knowledge and innovation.”

The Foundation identified and selected leading universities in the field of STEM across the globe that share its mission of supporting underserved, high-achieving Arab youth using the most innovative education models and teaching methods.

Maysa Jalbout, CEO of the Foundation, said: “This is an exciting time for the Foundation. While we have expanded undergraduate degrees, we’re offering much needed scholarships at the graduate level. We’ve done our research and listened to Arab youth. They told us quality matters. Arab youth want their education to help them develop skills, gain work experience and immerse them in research. We’re confident our university partners will respond to the needs of our scholars”

The Foundation selected university partners that offer easily accessible and effective academic and non-academic support to their students. Providing Al Ghurair Scholars with support during university and in their transition from education to employment through career counselling, hands-on experience, community service and other such opportunities is one of the key pillars of the Al Ghurair STEM Scholars Program. 

Abdulla Al Ghurair has invested 1.1 billion USD (AED 4.2 Billion) into the Foundation and has pledged to reach 15,000 promising Arab youth pursuing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education over the next ten years. The Foundation is focused on providing access to high quality education for high-achieving, underserved Arab youth who excel in these fields and are committed to giving back to their community and the Arab world.