The cost of a U.S.A. higher education brand

The Insider Higher Education article on Arabian Gulf (the author used the term 'Persian' which would not be welcomed by these countries) higher education utilizing U.S.A. elite brands utilized the recent Washington Post article as its basis and then attempted to pose the broader question of whether the brands acquired were worth the expenditures required (author's estimate = $200,000/student/year). From someone who was previously involved at Education City in Qatar, Mr. Usher's analysis is superficial and actually inaccurate in some details.

The Washington Post was able to obtain information that may appear to expose "what on earth possessed the Qataris to pay this kind of price" but it's unfortunate that Mr. Usher does exactly what many in higher education have repeatedly resisted over time - portray higher education as a commodity that can be acquired as a matter of trade. The dollars spent are exorbitant by anyone's standard but knowing why there was so much value placed on the capacity building being undertaken is much more important. Many of us involved in the Education City project struggled with the amount of the expenditures and what we perceived to be excesses, however:

• The first of the universities to come to Qatar was VCU and it came to offer educational opportunity that was otherwise unavailable to bright and motivated Muslim females who would not typically travel outside their home countries to obtain degrees.
• The other universities all started as co-educational institutions but the Qatar Foundation pressed them all to admit increasing proportions of Qatari nationals who, again, would likely not have studied at such high quality institutions under other circumstances.
• Being from the Arab and/or Muslim world makes attending university in the U.S.A. or Europe complicated. Qatar Foundation's Education City began before 9-11 but certainly expanded after young Arabs/Muslims were increasingly scrutinized and sometimes denied study visas to come to the U.S.A. In addition, students and campus culture in the U.S.A. and European universities are more hedonistic and actually contradict values held by many Arab/Muslim students and families.
• The major conclusion of the above three points is that, in order to expand high quality Western-style educational opportunity in a cultural environment that supported the students who eventually attended the universities at Education City, willingness to pay could have come at a pretty high level.
• In the end, the U.S.A. and European institutions that came to Qatar had a price and Qatar was at least initially willing (and able) to pay what was demanded in order to begin the Education City project.

I am proud to say that while I was at Education City I repeatedly brought attention to the luxury of the place and I encouraged my Western colleagues to curtail the excesses to which they contributed. Sadly, encouragement in the direction of reduced expenses was heeded to only token degrees. The result now is that Qatar's commodities wealth is flowing into the treasury at much slower rates than before and this is raising the question of whether or not the brands were worth what Qatar paid. Having been there in the formidable years of building Education City, I can attest to the quality of educational outcomes for the many students with whom I was acquainted. In some cases, the outcomes were simply priceless and these young people will go on to contribute greatly to Qatar and other countries throughout the region.

When it comes to what your brand is worth, U.S.A., European and other countries that expect to be donor institutions in international partnerships should carefully consider how your bargaining is perceived and what a reasonable price might be. For host countries who want to benefit from U.S.A. or European universities' brands, you have great value to offer in partnership as well; you should make certain that any partner you wish to engage is equally committed to the capacity building and long-term sustainability of your joint efforts and that they respect and honor your culture and values.