Pakistan and UAE higher education funding initiatives

Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have introduced various financial initiatives to support international higher education.

In Pakistan, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) expanded academic mobility by reviewing travel grant and seminar support applications based on academic merit. The HEC also launched overseas scholarships for Pakistani and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) nationals pursuing MS/MPhil and PhD degrees at top 200 global universities, including institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan.

Furthering these efforts, the Pakistani government introduced an interest-free loan scheme through the Pakistan Education Endowment Fund (PAK-EEF). This scheme targets MS and PhD students admitted to the world’s top 25 universities, covering tuition, living expenses, and travel. Simultaneously, the UAE Ministry of Education established fully funded scholarship programs for UAE citizens to study abroad in priority sectors, increasing financial allocations by 50% to support national talent.