Higher Education in Jordan

How it is organised

Higher education in Jordan is delivered by community colleges, university colleges and universities. Universities may be public (government-established) or private, and a small number operate under special laws. The sector is regulated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, with accreditation handled by the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission.

Degree levels

Intermediate and diploma qualifications from colleges; bachelor’s degrees (typically four years, five in engineering, pharmacy and similar, six in medicine plus internship); higher diplomas; master’s degrees; and doctorates. Medicine and dentistry also have a distinct higher-specialisation level.

Admission

Jordanian students holding the Tawjihi apply to public universities through the national Unified Admission system, which allocates places by stream, grade profile and capacity. International students and holders of non-Jordanian qualifications apply directly to institutions through their own international admission route, and their qualifications are separately assessed for equivalency.

Quality assurance

Institution recognition and programme accreditation are different things. An institution may be officially recognised while a particular programme is not accredited, or is accredited with conditions. For regulated professions — medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, nursing, law — programme-level status is the fact that matters most, because it is what licensing bodies and recognition authorities examine.

Cost

Public-university tuition for Jordanian students is regulated and programme-dependent; international students are normally charged on a different schedule, and private-university fees are set institutionally. This portal does not publish fee figures that have not been verified from a current institutional schedule.