Global Network University

New York University will soon welcome its first class to the new Abu Dhabi campus in the United Arab Emirates -- a move that has the academic world chattering. Greeting a mere 150 students (of the 9,000 who applied) from 39 countries, NYUAD is speculated to be the first truly global university, a so-called “international portal.”

NYU President John Sexton says that creating NYUAD is the first step in dismantling traditional boundaries of higher education. The campus welcomes only Ivy League–level applicants, demanding that all students have not only the GPA but also the desire to become fully enveloped in a global institution. Students are required to take classes, do volunteer work and complete internships.

The campus, which is entirely funded by the Abu Dhabi government, will provide the same liberal-arts degrees offered to students on the New York City campus. Abu Dhabi will subsidize tuition for those unable to afford the entire whopping $62,454 annual price tag.

In another effort to welcome the American-based institution, the UAE will allow NYUAD to be exempt from certain laws and cultural limitations in the Muslim world. For example, Internet will be unrestricted on the campus, whereas sites conflicting with the state’s values are blocked. Students will be afforded complete academic freedom, something that doesn’t exist within the UAE. And while Abu Dhabi has strict rules against homosexuality, such laws will not be in effect within the confines of NYUAD’s campus.

The NYUAD ideal is that through an internationally based education, research will be more complex, classes more demanding and the overall experience more enriching than that of a traditional university. It is intended to act as a cultural barometer.

Given the increasingly globalized nature of our modern world, it’s difficult to image why any top student wouldn’t want to be a part of this revolutionary new concept. Sounds like an adventure!