The Coordinating Council for Higher Education and Scientific Research, at its fourth meeting held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, discussed the development of mechanism of funding universities and federal colleges, in order to provide funding according to clear principles and criteria in determining the educational cost to the student in line with the international practices, provide financial resources required to accommodate qualified students to attend the institutions of federal higher education, determine the educational cost to the student based on the various academic disciplines and international comparisons, and stimulate excellence in performance and institutional innovation and improve the quality of educational outcomes, as well as ensure the quality of academic services, provide attractive environment to attract the distinguished faculty members, and enhance the competitiveness of the federal institutions of higher education.
After extensive discussion of several data including; international comparisons on the number of students indicators, faculty members, and operational costs ratios, comparisons of faculty members salaries, components of the funding formula and calculation of the cost to the student formulas, including the educational cost, the cost of services, the budgets of universities and federal colleges, the annual change in the number of students, and the evaluation of mechanism and recommendations made by the Higher Education Policy Institute. Accordingly, the meeting recommended reviewing the components of funding mechanism and working on the development of the model with a focus on the educational outcomes (graduates ratio, the percentage of continuing school and completing a university degree, the scientific disciplines for graduates and their compatibility with the labor market, and rates of employment of graduates). The meeting also recommended the development of indicators to stimulate performance in the federal institutions of higher education and link them to the funding mechanism, the allocation of financial incentives that contribute to the strengthening of the federal institutions of higher education capacity in the scientific research and publication and innovation, and the review of the components of funding formula according to the international comparisons of the salaries of faculty members, and the proportions of the operational costs.