GUST Adjusts Tuition Fees to Maintain Quality of Education
– PUC and Ministry of Higher Education approve first tuition increase for undergraduate students in six years, and first ever increase for MBA students• GUST’s price per credit hour is still noticeably less than others locally• GUST to develop its campus and build a third College for Engineering and Architecture
Kuwait City, 7/6/2015: Gulf University for Science and Technology announced last week that it intends on raising its tuition costs by 20% for all students starting in the 2015/2016 academic year. The new tuition fees, which have been approved by the Private Universities Council (PUC) and the Ministry of Higher Education, will come into effect in September 2015 and will be applied to all new and returning students. All fees other than tuition will remain the same.In order to counter mounting overheads, the University requested an official increase in tuition fees from the PUC to continue to meet the superior quality of education and services it strives for. In turn, this will allow GUST to ensure continuous recruitment of highly qualified professors to maintain its accreditation status, and to give students the competitive edge they need after graduation, fund research, maintain & upgrade the state-of-the-art campus, and support various student activities.Compared to other universities, GUST’s price per credit hour will still be noticeably less than others locally. The range of courses offered, the ultra-modern campus, and the superior levels of its teaching staff continue to offer the best value for money. Over the last six years, undergraduate fees have remained unchanged whilst the MBA program has never had an increase in tuition since its launch in 2008.Dr. Donald Bates, GUST President, said, “GUST is going through a period of unprecedented growth and expansion, and there are many more exciting developments in the pipeline to further enhance the overall GUST experience. With these changes, difficult choices must be made when considering the quality of education we aim to provide. The increase in tuition fees will allow us to attract the right professors to maintain our accreditation status, earn more accreditations, and to equip students with the tools and skills they need to face the future.”As a respite to students pursuing higher education at GUST, an increase in financial aid will be provided in the form of scholarships and interest free loan opportunities, covered by GUST, through Kuwait International Bank and Boubyan Bank.Over the next few years, GUST will be working on phase two of its campus, which will house the new College of Engineering and Architecture in cooperation with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (UMASS-Lowell), and a multi-story parking structure. The cost of construction for these new structures will be covered entirely by a third party, and will not be funded in any way by the increase in tuition fees.Beginning in September 2016, students joining GUST will be able to sign up for the new dual-degree masters programs and a new undergraduate engineering program. The new courses, in Accounting, Finance, Innovation & Technological Entrepreneurship, Computer Science, Education, and Engineering will begin to be offered in just over a year’s time (pending final approval from the PUC on the exact starting date). The new programs will be accredited under the same standards as those offered on the UMass-Lowell campus in the USA, and 16 UMass-Lowell faculty and administrators are expected to move to Kuwait. With this development, GUST will be the only university in Kuwait whose students graduate with an accredited American degree.
