( CNN ) -- Next year 's college applicants have some difficult choices to make . Is it better to go to state school or private ? Stay close to home or ship out to Abu Dhabi ? Western students receiving their education in the UAE is not as far-fetched as it might sound as some of the world 's most respected collegiate brands have set up outposts in the Gulf region . Dubai hosts 52 universities while Qatar has set up Education City , a sector that houses a number of U.S. colleges including Carnegie Mellon , Cornell , Georgetown , and Northwestern . Next year , the first students admitted to New York University ( NYU ) Abu Dhabi will graduate ; a benchmark almost as significant as the scheduled completion of the university 's new Saadiyat Island campus . `` There are lots of exciting signs that the region is heating up and getting more dynamic in terms of higher education , '' says Phil Baty , the editor-at-large of Times Higher Education . `` There 's recognition ( in the Gulf ) that they need to prepare for the post-oil world , and they realize that a knowledge-based economy ensures growth in the future . '' Several local universities have stepped up their game , too , building state-of-the-art research facilities to attract students from abroad . Even Saudi Arabia is getting in on the act . This year witnessed the completion of Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University ( PNU ) in Riyadh -- a 2,000 acre site and the largest all-female university in the world . In several instances , investment in education in the region has paid off . One of the most prominent collegiate success stories is NYU Abu Dhabi , which started accepting students to its UAE hub four years ago . Read more : Seven-star satire in Dubai . Despite initial fears from critics that the new campus could potentially water down both the brand and the quality of its degree , the Abu Dhabi facility is one of the most selective schools in the world , admitting 150 out of 9,000 applicants per class . Prospective students often have to decide between NYU Abu Dhabi and top tier universities like Oxford and Yale . In recent years , the school has been dubbed `` the world 's honors college '' . NYU president John Sexton -- the brainchild behind the project -- has lofty goals . `` Our mandate is to create in NYU Abu Dhabi a school that educates the leaders of global civil society , from every sector of the world , and in every sector of society , '' he says . Though the Emirates outpost has , according to Sexton , `` done a great deal to help NYU elevate its game , '' other universities in the area have met with more mixed results . A cheating scandal at the Dubai campus of Edinburgh 's Heriot-Watts University earlier this year underscored the concerns that universities with operations overseas are not able to maintain their standards . Other institutions , such as the University of Waterloo in Dubai , had to close because of a lack of enrollment , while Michigan State University curtailed it undergraduate program and now only offers six Masters degrees . `` There have been some examples of market failure , of universities embarrassing themselves and getting it wrong , rather than planting their flag abroad , '' says Baty . `` The issue is , how much are they invested ? Are they just about pushing the global brand abroad , or are they genuinely on the ground , creating an infrastructure that will last ? '' Even with the success stories , the moral implications of doing business in states with limited freedom of speech and mixed human rights records has left some critics feeling uncomfortable . Infographic : Press freedom in the Middle East . Earlier this year , LSE pulled out of a conference in the UAE ( and subsequently witnessed one of its scholars barred entry ) after the authorities restricted the inclusion of sensitive topics . Back in Manhattan , some of NYU 's faculty members have also expressed concern about the UAE 's stance towards gays ( illegal ) and Israelis ( unrecognized ) . Sexton , however , is unperturbed . `` My experience of the Emirates is that it 's a very open society . Now , it 's not Greenwich Village but as you move through the world you have to adapt to local customs . My daughter does n't dress the same way in Istanbul as she does in New York ; when I 'm in the UK , I 'm not as free to criticize public officials as I am in the U.S. You just have to be aware of rules and regulations , '' he says . Leah Reynolds , a senior at NYU Abu Dhabi , agrees with Sexton . Her experience , she notes , is about getting exposure to a wide cross section of cultures , not about imposing her own . `` In my classes , every country we refer to has a case study right there ; chances are , someone in the classroom that will have had that experience , no matter what it is , '' she says .
Numerous western universities have outposts in Middle East Gulf states . UAE and Qatar have an eye on transitioning to a knowledge-based economy . Comment: