The region’s premier council on higher education now requires undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students across the GCC countries to complete additional credit hours. The ruling is effective not only for the region’s domestic institutions, but also internationally based degree-awarding establishments. According to this new directive, all students - including local, expat and transfer – will now be required to complete additional credit hours before they can be awarded the degrees they have enrolled for.
Chairman CHE-GCC Mr. Charles M. Livingston called the policy change “a very positive step towards enhancing the student experience and honing the skills they will require in their respective professions.” Mr. Livingston added that recommendations from the region’s employers, institutions, and students themselves were some key factors behind the policy change.
The new course credit system will be in immediate effect, requiring all degree-awarding establishments in the region to append more credit hours to courses as directed by the Council. “We want to give our students enhanced exposure to quality education and skill development, and to that end we want to give them more classroom time,” added Cynthia Meyer, Co- Chairperson of CHE-GCC.
The new course credit system will require Associate Degree students to complete 70 credit hours, instead of the old 60 credit hour system. Credit hours for Bachelor’s Degree students in the GCC will now be 132 instead of the old 120. Those pursuing their Master’s degree in the region will now add 16 credit hours to the old 60, making a total of 76 credit hours. And PhD students now see their old 90 credit hours increase to 98.
Some students see the new regulation as additional coursework on their part. Others find it a very positive move toward enhancement of the learning experience. “More credit hours means more study and more time spent in the classroom. I know the additional studies will be tough for me to manage but the results must be worth the effort,” said Rawdha Saliba, a postgraduate student in Oman. Sulaiman Sadiq, an undergrad student in Saudi Arabia sees the new policy as “a positive move and it should improve acceptance of the GCC higher education globally.”
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