Al Qasimia University Ranking: What Indian Students Should Know Before Applying (2026)

Quick Overview

No QS badge here, but a scholarship package and an Islamic-Arabic focus that many ranked universities cannot match.

Key Takeaways

• Based on EduRank’s 2026 data, Al Qasimia University is ranked 39th in the UAE and globally it is 10,336th. Neither QS nor THE ranks the university at all. Remember this before you go looking for a badge that will not appear. 
• Five colleges, no engineering, no computer science. That is why searches for Al Qasimia University ranking computer science and Al Qasimia University ranking engineering turn up nothing here.
• A master's degree runs about AED 99,000 in Al Qasimia University fees, worked out at AED 3,000 per credit hour across 33 credits. In INR terms, that lands close to 25.74 lakh.
• You can qualify for the Al Qasimia University scholarship. It pays for your housing and visa costs and even your flights. You need to have a GPA to get the Al Qasimia University scholarship. You cannot work while you are studying at Al Qasimia University.
• The Al Qasimia University admission for 2026 is open all year. If you want to join the university and you do not speak Arabic, you need to take the IELTS test to prove you can speak English. The IELTS test is required for Al Qasimia University if you are not in the track. 
• Planning the bachelor's route through the scholarship channel? Mind the age window. Applicants need to fall between 16 and 20 years old, with Class 12 finished within the last two years, so gap-year and repeat-attempt students often fall outside it.

Introduction

Are you trying to shortlist universities in Sharjah? You might have come across the problem that many Indian students face every admission season: when you look up the Al Qasimia University ranking, the QS rankings and the Times Higher Education tables don't show anything. Khalifa University shows up. Qatar University shows up. Al Qasimia University does not.

That missing spot is not really a warning sign. The university was started in 2013 by a royal decree from the ruler of Sharjah. It created its path in Gulf higher education instead of trying to meet the standards that QS and THE focus on. Islamic studies, Arabic language, economics, communication and Quranic sciences – that is the entire academic footprint here. It also happens to run one of the more generous international scholarship schemes in the region, something a ranking chart would never tell you.

Give this guide under ten minutes. You will walk away with the real ranking data, the fee breakdown, the admission steps and an honest read on what past students say, not guesswork stitched together from outdated aggregator pages. Let us begin.

What Is Al Qasimia University? A Quick Snapshot

Already skimmed the Al Qasimia University Wikipedia page? Then you know the outline. Royal Decree number 2 was issued in 2013 by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. He is the ruler of Sharjah and also a member of the UAE Supreme Council. This royal decree created the university and the reason for this decree was clear and not vague. It wanted to create an Islamic-Arabic institution. This institution would still connect with the rest of the world. It would not be another general-purpose campus that only focused on size. 

When we think about recognition, Al Qasimia University has something from the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. This is called accreditation. Al Qasimia University got this accreditation for the first time in January 2015. Then it was renewed in March 2021. The accreditation of Al Qasimia University is what makes a bachelor's degree from Al Qasimia University and a master's degree from Al Qasimia University official in the UAE. It means that Al Qasimia University degrees are recognised in the UAE. 

Physically, this is not a small setup. The campus covers more than 1,036,049 square metres across Sharjah's University City, bigger than most Gulf campuses in this fee bracket. An administrative building, a manuscript house, a central library, an auditorium, a mosque and residential halls split by gender for every college; all of it sits within that footprint. This separation is present throughout most of student life here. It creates a big difference compared to campuses that are not separated, like Canadian University Dubai or the University of Dubai.

This separation has an impact on daily life too: you will find evening curfews in the dorms and in the residential buildings and you will need to follow strict dress codes. There are also academic areas for men and women. Life on this campus follows set schedules of having open socialising between men and women.

Weigh that against the mixed-gender, Western-style branch campuses common across Dubai and Sharjah, and the daily campus experience looks nothing alike.

None of this fits neatly into a QS scorecard. So when a ranking number does not appear, confusion sets in for a lot of students. The next section untangles that.

Al Qasimia University Ranking Explained: QS, THE and Regional Tables

Let me tell you something. Al Qasimia University is not even in the QS Arab Region Rankings or the QS World University Rankings for 2026. The best university in the region is KFUPM. Qatar University comes in second. Then there is Khalifa University, which is third. No university from Sharjah is on this list. If you check Times Higher Education, you will not find Al Qasimia University's ranking. What you will find is a job opening at Al Qasimia University. This is not really a surprise when you know how these rankings work.

Al Qasimia University's ranking is not in the QS search because QS and THE look at things like research, how many teachers there are for each student working with other countries and how often the university's work is cited. They use a system that is meant for universities that do a lot of research. So ranking is not really comparable to these universities. Al Qasimia University is just not part of these rankings, like QS and THE. A focused, faith-based institution running five colleges rarely bothers submitting data to these frameworks. Its mission was never built around that comparison.

According to independent trackers, they do not have as much influence as QS, but they still provide some information. For example, EduRank says that Al Qasimia University is around 10,336th in the world. This is based on what they found out from research and how visible the university is on the internet in 2026. They also say it is 39th in the UAE. The AD Scientific Index looks at researchers. It found 243 researchers who work at Al Qasimia University and ranked them based on how many times they were cited and their H-index. However, this ranking is for the researchers, not the university itself. Then there is the Arab Region University Ranking. This is done by the Association of Arab Universities. They gave Al Qasimia University a score of 187.5 out of 1000. The university did best in the category of teaching quality. 

Add these numbers up, and a clearer picture forms:

modest and specialised, rather than invisible. Keep that comparison in context. Al Qasimia University gets the money it needs. It has a specific job to focus on outreach and Arabic scholarship given by the ruling family of Sharjah. So when we look at Al Qasimia University, we should not just think about how it does on lists, like QS or THE. We need to think about what Al Qasimia University was made to do in the place. Al Qasimia University was built to do a thing, and that is what we should be looking at. 

How Does Al Qasimia University Sharjah Ranking Compare With Other Gulf Options?

An Al Qasimia University Sharjah ranking only means something once you are comparing similar programmes. Al Ain University keeps popping up in the same searches, and checking the Al Ain University QS ranking shows why: it holds an actual placement within QS's regional band, mostly because it runs a much wider spread of business, engineering and health sciences programmes, the kind of data QS actually wants.

Colleges and Programmes at Al Qasimia University

Five colleges make up the foundation, each offering its own bachelor's programme and, in some instances, leading to master's programmes as well.

• College of Sharia and Islamic Studies: jurisprudence, comparative fiqh, Sharia-based governance.
• College of Arts and Humanities: language and literature along with civilisation and Islamic history.
• College of Economics and Management: business fundamentals, economics theory and applied management, often taught through an Islamic finance lens.
• College of Communication: media, broadcasting and journalism with in-house radio and television studios.
• The College of the Holy Quran: includes understanding what the Quran means, how to recite it and learning about Hadith sciences. 

The College of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research is like a department. It has master's programmes in areas such as:

• Jurisprudence and its Foundations
• Arabic Language and Literature 
• Quranic Exegesis and Hadith.

If you have landed here looking for Al Qasimia University's QS ranking for computer science or engineering, the bottom line about these is that Al Qasimia University offers none of them; therefore, there can be no ranking for such subjects. Prefer something more STEM or tech-orientated?

Look elsewhere in the UAE. Study From UAE's course database covers several Sharjah and Dubai campuses running engineering and computer science, which is worth a look if that fits your goals better. 

There is something you need to know before you apply

At every college, the teaching is mostly in Arabic. This means that the classes, tests and the books you have to read are all in Arabic. This is true for subjects like economics and communication. If you do not speak Arabic, you will probably need to spend one year learning Arabic in the Intensive Arabic Language Programme before you can start your actual college work. When you apply, you need to show that you can speak English by taking the IELTS test. This does not mean that your classes will be in English. The college classes will still be in Arabic. 

Al Qasimia University Fees 2026

Official numbers exist for the master's programmes currently on offer, and here is the fees breakdown:

Al Qasimia University Scholarship 2026

The Al Qasimia University scholarship 2026 cycle remains limited for global applicants, specifically students who come from outside the UAE. When you get accepted, here is what you can expect to get: 

• A stipend that you will receive every month of the year and it will even continue into summer if you are still enrolled. AQU does not publish an exact figure but usually says they get around AED 500 to AED 600. This money is meant to help you pay for your food and other small things that come up and you will also get free housing.
• Visa, residency and Emirates ID processing, handled entirely by the university; housing in or around Sharjah, arranged separately for male and female students.
• Health insurance under the university's standard policy.
• A return ticket once you clear half your study plan and a one-way ticket home after graduation.
• On-campus transport.

None of it comes free of conditions, though. Stay enrolled every semester. Keep your GPA at 2.00 or above. Skip paid work entirely, since the scholarship assumes full-time academic commitment, nothing on the side. Students placed into the Intensive Arabic Language Programme need to clear it within one academic year before moving into their chosen specialisation. Break these terms, and the university revokes the scholarship without much warning.

Comparing costs across Study From UAE's Al Qasimia University profile and other Sharjah campuses. The way this scholarship is set up can really make a difference when you are deciding where to go because not many universities in the United Arab Emirates include things like flights and stipends in their packages the way this one does. 

Al Qasimia University Admission 2026: Process and Requirements

Applying to Al Qasimia University in 2026 is pretty straightforward; you just have to follow the steps: 

1. First, you have to see if you can apply. You do this by getting a certificate that shows you finished school. The UAE Ministry of Education has to say that your certificate is okay. 
2. If you did not go to a school where they teach in English or Arabic, you have to take a test to show you can speak English. Most people take the IELTS test. 
3. Then you can fill out the application for Al Qasimia University on their website. You do this online. 
4. Wait through departmental review. Seat availability by specialisation affects where you land.
5. Get accepted, and international students move automatically into scholarship documentation, unless self-funding is the plan.

Still weighing test formats? Our detailed guide comparing IELTS Academic and General Training breaks down which version universities actually expect from applicants.

Intake follows the standard UAE academic calendar, with the main cycle opening well ahead of the September semester. Planning a January or summer entry instead? Confirm current dates directly with the admission office, since deadlines shift year to year.

What You Need for Al Qasimia University Admission 2026

Documents worth having ready before the online application opens:

• Attested Secondary School Leaving Certificate or equivalent, mark sheets included
• Valid passport copy, passport-style photographs
• Approved English or Arabic language proficiency score, where it applies
• No-objection certificate or transfer documents, if you are moving from another university
• Statement of purpose or motivation letter, depending on the programme
• Indian applicants need one extra step here: attestation. Get your Class 12 or degree certificate attested through your state education department or CBSE first, then the Ministry of External Affairs in India, and finally, the UAE Embassy in New Delhi. A Hague apostille will not substitute for this chain; UAE education authorities do not accept apostilled certificates for degree admissions. Our Al Qasimia University scholarship guide walks through this attestation chain and the full eligibility list in more detail.

Al Qasimia University Acceptance Rate: What the Data Really Shows

If you look for the Al Qasimia University acceptance rate, you will only find estimates. There is no number. Al Qasimia University does not share its admission statistics. This is normal for universities where you get in if you meet the requirements. Some people try to find out the acceptance rate by checking similar universities to Al Qasimia University. They believe the acceptance rate is 86 per cent. Do not think this is a promise. Your chance of being accepted at Al Qasimia University really depends on the subject you want to study if there are spots that year and how well your academic background fits what the department is looking for. If you want an answer, do not look at websites that just gather information. Instead, reach out to the Al Qasimia University admission office directly. 

Al Qasimia University Reviews, Results and Placement: What Students Say

Search Al Qasimia University reviews, and a few themes keep surfacing: generous scholarship support; a calm and disciplined campus; and solid access to Islamic scholarship resources through the manuscript house and specialised library. Facilities get their share of praise too, the five on-campus food courts and the dedicated sports complex especially.

Academic results go through the student e-services portal every semester. Al Qasimia University result tracking connects directly to GPA rules that control scholarship continuation. The coursework here focuses on Sharia, Arabic, communication, economics and Quranic studies, so Al Qasimia University placement outcomes tend to be in education, media, translation, religious affairs and public-sector jobs, both in the Gulf and back home, unlike the corporate campus placements that are common at an engineering or business-focused university. Thinking about a career in consulting, tech or core engineering? Take that difference into account early before you decide to spend an academic cycle on it.

Beyond the Ranking: How Study From UAE Helps You Decide

A ranking number only tells part of any university's story, and that gap is exactly where Study From UAE steps in. Instead of handing you a generic list of Sharjah campuses, our team cross-checks fee data, the kind shown above, directly against university admission offices. That means you are comparing real numbers against your budget, not outdated figures pulled from an aggregator that has not been updated in a year.

Our Al Qasimia University profile page has all the information about the programmes, scholarship terms and when we can apply and this page gets updated when the university makes changes to its rules. If you are really interested in studies or Arabic scholarship or Quranic sciences, our team can help you see how a degree from Al Qasimia University can help you get a job either back home or in other places in the Gulf. A simple list of rankings cannot show you this. Our team at Al Qasimia University can. 

One clarification worth keeping in mind: Al Qasimia University does not route admissions through commercial education agents; applications go directly through its own portal. Our counselling team helps with document prep, particularly getting your attestation chain right before you submit, not with filing the application on your behalf.

Conclusion

A single ranking number rarely settles whether a university actually fits your goals, and Al Qasimia University makes that case well. It sits completely outside the QS and the tables, yet it offers a fully funded route into Islamic studies, Arabic scholarship and Quranic sciences that few Gulf universities can match. That trade works heavily in favour of the right student. Chasing a QS-ranked, engineering-heavy degree instead? This campus was never built for that path, and knowing that now saves you an entire application cycle later.

Wondering whether Al Qasimia University actually fits your goals, budget and programme choice? Check the Al Qasimia University profile on Study From UAE for verified fee, scholarship and admission details, or talk to our counselling team for a free, personalised shortlist.