This past December, NECHE on the Road traveled to Kuwait — and even though I’m accustomed to being amazed by almost every one of the 50+ institutions we’ve visited, just about everything I experienced in Kuwait and at the university took me by surprise. My purpose in traveling so far was to visit the American University of the Middle East (AUM) as it begins its process of accreditation.
I knew three things about Kuwait before I arrived: it produces a whole lot of oil, it is a Muslim country, and the United States liberated it in 1991 after an invasion by Iraq from the north. Since that time, Kuwait has become a strong military ally of the United States. The list of things I didn’t know about Kuwait is far too long to recount, but here are just a few revelations: Its population is 4 million, though just 1.8 million are Kuwait citizens. (Case in point: virtually all AUM faculty and staff are ex-pats, hailing from more than fifty countries.) Kuwait shares a border with Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and a water border with Iran. It is a very small country; you can drive from one end to the other in two hours. Given Kuwait’s diminutive size, its relatively small population, and massive oil wealth (the country sits atop the world’s sixth largest oil reserves), its per capita income is one of the highest in the world. In fact, Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund is the fifth largest in the world at more than $800 billion.
Another fascinating insight: a greater percentage of women in Kuwait work than in any other Muslim Middle Eastern country. Almost 70% of AUM’s 11,000 students are women, and they dominate across the two schools of AUM, Engineering and Business. This was quite a wonderful and eye-opening thing to witness.
Private universities were only permitted to open less than twenty years ago in Kuwait and AUM has since become the number one-ranked institution in the country. It has even earned a world ranking, which is astonishing given its young age. AUM is also part of the Babson Collaborative for Entrepreneurship Education, a global entrepreneurship education membership organization aligned with Babson College.
Another impressive attribute: both business and engineering schools at AUM have been programmatically accredited by the most rigorous bodies in the world: ABET for Engineering and AACSB for Business. I’m not sure any other new university in the world has managed this feat in so short a time.
So .. how do students from Kuwait afford this high-quality private education? Virtually all of them have their tuition fully paid by the government, and they also receive a monthly stipend to cover other expenses. I spent some time with several current students and recent alumni, mostly women of course. The grads were working at corporations like Deloitte, Halliburton, and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The current students shared how special a community AUM is: very student-focused and supportive, encouraging each of them to think independently.
My last night, I had the good fortune to attend a soccer match with my host, AUM President Georges Yahchouchi. AUM’s team lost a close game, finishing their season ranked second in Kuwait. There were thousands of fans in attendance including most of the students, administrators, and faculty that I had met during the day. What a great community!
I also had the good fortune of meeting with the founder and board chair, Fahad AlOthman. When private universities were authorized, his vision was to go big from the start and there’s no doubt his vision has been realized. The students and faculty I met all knew the chairman, as he is a very frequent attendee at events at the university — although he did miss the nail-biter soccer game!
I was truly fascinated by my visit to Kuwait and deeply impressed by AUM.
Onward!