Eligibility Requirements

Students Eligible for Federal Funding

UAE Nationals and children of UAE National mothers may apply for federally funded admission to HCT, provided they meet all the following criteria:

• Possess a valid Emirates ID, UAE National ID/Family Book, and a valid UAE passport (or another passport if his/her mother is a UAE national);
• Passed the UAE General School Certificate (GSC), or hold equivalent qualifications;
• Completed the Emirates Standardized Test (EmSAT) or equivalent; and
• Completed National Service or is exempted from National Service (male students only).

Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in accordance with government regulations, has defined  priority categories for admissions, designed to ensure fairness and equal opportunities for all applicants. These categories help us identify and give priority to students who meet specific criteria. By familiarizing themselves with these priority categories, prospective students can gain a better understanding of the admissions process and determine their eligibility for specific considerations.

Admissions Priority Categories for funding students at the federal universities:

Admissions Priority One

1. Current female high school graduates who have earned the required averages that make them eligible for admission to Federal Higher Education Institutions.
2. Male high school graduates who have completed the National Service requirements and have earned the required averages that make them eligible for admission to Federal Higher Education Institutions.
3. Male high school graduates who are exempted from National Service and have earned the required averages that make them eligible for admission to Federal Higher Education Institutions.
4. Current students from Federal Universities and Colleges (Zayed University or UAE University), who opt to transfer to HCT within one academic year of discontinuing their studies.
5. Current students from HCT who opt to resume their studies within one academic year of discontinuing their studies.

Admissions Priority Two

1. Male and female high school graduates who are non-current students for a period of more than one academic year but less than three academic years from the date of their high school graduation.
2. Male and female students who ceased their post-secondary studies for a period of more than one academic year (at HCT, UAE University or Zayed University) but less than three academic years from the date of their high school graduation.

Admissions Priority Three

1. Male and female high school graduates who are non-current students for more than three years from the date of their high school graduation.
2. Male and female students who ceased their post-secondary studies for more than three years (at HCT, UAE University or Zayed University).

Self-sponsoring Students

Certain categories of students who are not eligible for admission to HCT, but meet the academic criteria, may qualify for HCT admission, provided they pay their own tuition fees as specified below:

Criteria for students paying their own tuition fees

• Non-Emirati high school students with a High School average of 85% (all streams)  and an IELTS score of 5.5 / EmSAT-English score of 1250 or equivalent.
• UAE Nationals who have already received a federally funded academic credential  and are interested in pursuing their studies to earn another credential from HCT.

Tuition Fees for Expatriate Students (Self-Sponsored Students)

• Admission Application Fee, Cash AED 250 non-refundable.
• Registration fees for courses:    

Tuition Fees

Tuition Fees

Academic Department	Fee for full-time student per semester (12-18 credit hours)	Fee per credit hour (for hours less than 12 or more than 18)
Engineering Technology and Science, Health Sciences, Computer Information Science	AED 36,750	AED 2,500 per credit
Education, Business	AED 30,000	AED 2,100 per credit

HCT offers tuition remissions for expatriate applicants as per the following schemes.

High School Average	Tuition remission (%)
95% and above	20%
Students with a cumulative GPA of between 3.00 and 3.74	20%
Sons/daughters of HCT employees	20%
Students who attain a cumulative GPA of 3.75 and above	40%
20% discount for UAE national students who are interested in pursuing an additional credential

Entry Requirements

Admissions and placement in all HCT credential programs is subject to the following criteria:

Applicants who meet the following requirements are eligible to apply for admission to the Higher Colleges of Technology according to the admission policy and regulations for the relevant programs:

• They have passed the government General School Certificate (GSC) or its equivalent with a minimum average of 60%.
• They have completed the Emirates Standardized Test – EmSAT in English or equivalent.

 In accordance with the following mechanisms and criteria:

In accordance with the following mechanisms and criteria:

Conditional Admissions

In certain cases, HCT may extend conditional offers of admissions to applicants who don’t meet all of the aforementioned program entry criteria. The conditional approval categories are as below:

Students seeking transfer from Higher Education Institutions to HCT

National students and sons/daughters of national mothers may transfer from federal institutions to HCT during the fall and spring semesters.

National students and sons/daughters of national mothers enrolled in non-federal universities accredited by the Commission for Academic Accreditation may apply for admissions considerations in  HCT during the spring semesters only as non-current applicants (Priority 2 and Priority 3) based on years of gap since High School graduation. 

 Admissions of the aforementioned categories of applicants will depend on the number of seats allocated and in accordance with the following conditions:

1. Student must be of good academic standing.
2. Student must not have received any academic warnings or penalty (academic dismissal).
3. They meet HCT established admissions requirements for the programs they want to join (high school average and English proficiency criteria).
4. Complete at least one regular semester with normal academic load of 12 credits. Academic departments will be responsible for determining the courses/credits to be transferred towards graduation requirements from HCT.
5. Student will be considered among P1 category if the period of interruption of studies from UAEU or Zayed University does not exceed one academic year.
6. For transfer of students from other higher education institutions and ZU/UAEU students who are inactive for more than one academic year, their applications will be reviewed and they will be categorized as P2 or P3 students, depending on the year of high school graduation. Their acceptance will be dependent on the capacity of HCT and preferential criteria for this category in the admissions policy.
7. Transfer students are required to submit their applications on MoE official website, making sure to upload a copy of official transcripts, with course descriptions, from the previous government or private institution. Prior to registration, original transcripts and course descriptions must be submitted to the Academic Services Office in the college.

Re-enrollment and Re-admission after an Interruption

Students who wish to enroll after an interruption or graduation are classified by their campuses under one of the Categories below.

Deferral (returning student, Priority Category 1)

Applicable for:

• Students who withdraw from a given semester must wait to repeat the course or set of courses in a subsequent term.

Note: The deferral can span up to one year, after which a re-enrollment hold is applied. To remove the hold, student must apply for re-admission. Deferred students who re-enroll before the expiration of the deferral period are not required to apply for re-admission. The deferral period starts from the semester when the withdrawal happened and lasts for up to one year.

Re-admission (former student, Priority Category 2 OR 3)

Applicable for:

• Students who deferred enrollment but who did not enroll before the expiration of the deferral period. Students withdrawn without deferral in a given semester who did not return to “enrolled” status in the following academic year.
• Students who were awarded HCT credential and seek another credential at a higher level and did not return in the following semester. These students may be subject to tuition fee payment.

Reinstatement (returning student, Priority Category 1 or former student, Priority Category 2 OR 3)

Applicable for:

• Students who previously were required by their college to withdraw without deferral from their program for academic or other reasons and have applied to resume their studies.