Al-Nahda is largest private university in Egypt

Mohammed al-Rashidi, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Al-Nahda University in Beni Suef, said that Al-Nahda University is the first and largest private university in Upper Egypt. He pointed out that the philosophy of establishing a private university in Upper Egypt aims to provide educational services in a region that suffers from a severe shortage of educational institutions. "It was an adventure for us to be present and succeed in Beni Suef, in Upper Egypt," al-Rashidi added.

Al-Rashidi said in his interview with Muslimchronicle that the private university education will be one of the most important solutions to the education crisis in the coming period. "The university will be among the first five public and private universities within 3 years," he stressed.

He pointed out that Al-Nahda University started with the establishment of six major faculties, including three faculties of pharmacy, dental and engineering, and 3 theoretical colleges: computer science, media and public relations, marketing and business administration, adding that about 5,200 students are studying in the university and annually between 1100 to 1200 students are graduating from different colleges.

Al-Rashidi said that they will add both the faculty of medicine and physical therapy, during the next academic year 2018-2019, as well as the establishment of a 300-bed educational hospital with an investment of EGP400 million. "We are seeking twinning with an European medical college and the management of educational hospitals to manage the hospital," he added.

Al-Rashidi added that the Ministry of Higher Education controls the 24 private universities operating in Egypt, noting that competition among them makes private universities one of the solutions to the education crisis in Egypt by reducing the pressure on the number of government colleges.

He pointed to the criteria of admission to the faculties of the university, the most important of which is to pass the test of the abilities developed by the university administration, proficiency in English, in addition to the internal coordination of the college.

According to al-Rashedi, the prices for joining the faculties this year are 56 thousand pounds for the faculty of dentistry, 53 thousand for pharmacy, 44,000 for engineering, 27,000 for computer science, 30,000 for marketing and management, 18,000 for business marketing and management (Arabic), and 30,000 pounds for media and public relations college.

Al-Rashedi concluded adding the basic objective of private university education not profit in the first place but providing quality education, while profit is the goal of reinvestment for development and sustainability and the ability to provide good education.