British University in Dubai to introduce undergraduate degrees

The British University in Dubai (BUiD) is set to expand its offerings with the introduction of undergraduate degrees within the next year, pending curriculum approvals from the Commission for Academic Accreditation. The announcement was made by Dr Abdullah Al Shamsi, Vice Chancellor of BUiD on the eve of the university's sixth annual graduation ceremony last week. "BUiD looks to have a greater impact on society through higher education and undergraduate programmes [which] will give us an opportunity to do this," he said. Al Shamsi added the institution is set to initially introduce two new undergraduate faculties of engineering and business no later than September 2012. The new undergraduate degrees on offer at BUiD will be in the fields of business management, finance and banking, computer science and architecture. "We feel these areas are a good start for our undergraduate offerings as there is significant market demand in these fields," said Al Shamsi. "These disciplines will give us a good foundation for the future expansion of our undergraduate portfolio." BUiD was established in 2003 and until now, has only offered postgraduate degrees in affiliation with UK universities. BUiD's growth comes ultimately as proof of its success, which was evident at its sixth graduation ceremony last week. For the first time in its history BUiD graduated a cohort of more than 100 students, which is a significant jump from last year's 80 graduates and 56 in 2009. "The prospects for BUiD and its postgraduate degrees seem to be very attractive in the country," said Al Shamsi. "This is signified by the growth in our student numbers despite huge competition." From / Gulf News