200,000 International Students are Enrolled at Egyptian Universities

Around 200,000 international students are currently enrolled at universities in Egypt, according to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Ministry spokesperson Adel Abdel Ghaffar said the total includes approximately 138,000 students studying within the ministry’s higher education system and a further 60,000 enrolled at Al Azhar University.

The ministry views international enrolment as important not only for foreign currency inflows but also for university rankings, international visibility and the broader competitiveness of Egyptian higher education.

Abdel Ghaffar said growing competition between universities worldwide is pushing Egyptian institutions to continue developing their academic programmes and learning systems. Egypt currently has around 130 universities offering modern and interdisciplinary programmes, alongside a growing research profile and improved performance in international and subject-specific rankings.

The ministry outlined three main areas for expanding international enrolment in the coming years.

The first involves establishing branches of Egyptian universities abroad, with particular focus on African countries, the Arab region and Asia.

The second will focus on promoting Egypt’s existing higher education system internationally. According to the ministry, awareness remains limited in several target markets of the scale of Egypt’s university network, the range of modern disciplines available and the expansion of digitised student services.

A third track will focus on simplifying application and enrolment procedures for international students, including clearer information about available programmes and closer coordination with other state bodies over administrative requirements.