Experts, academics, and specialists in artificial intelligence have confirmed that the digital revolution has not excluded traditional applied majors from the throne of the most expensive university programs, as more than 12 “applied” university majors still top the list of “most expensive” programs, including human medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, aviation, engineering, architecture, law, international business administration, and creative arts, which command the highest tuition fees globally.
They explained that these specializations have maintained their position despite the transformations brought about by artificial intelligence in higher education, due to their reliance on specialized laboratories, clinical training, advanced simulation, and expensive technical equipment.
Monitoring conducted by Emirates Today revealed that artificial intelligence, despite its profound impact on reshaping university learning and training methods, was unable to break the equation of the highest-cost specializations. Some human medicine programs still record annual fees of up to 160 thousand dirhams, while fees for some aerospace engineering and aircraft maintenance programs range between 90 and 98 thousand dirhams annually, and the cost of some commercial pilot training courses jumps to hundreds of thousands of dirhams.
These indicators are consistent with international data and reports issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the “QS” global university classification organization, which confirm that medical specialties, aviation, engineering, and some advanced technical programs continue to lead the list of the most expensive academic programs in the world, despite the rapid expansion in digital education and artificial intelligence applications.
Low cost
Academics believed that the prevailing belief that digital transformation will automatically lead to a reduction in education costs does not apply to all specializations, especially those that depend on practical training and specialized infrastructure.
Academic expert and assistant professor at Zayed University, Dr. Ahmed Al Ali, told Emirates Al-Youm that many expected that artificial intelligence would lead to reducing the cost of higher education, but this perception does not apply to major applied specializations, such as medicine, engineering, and aviation.
He explained that the cost of these programs is not related to lectures or educational content only, but rather to an integrated system that includes laboratories, specialized equipment, educational hospitals, clinical training, simulators, hours of practical training, safety requirements, and academic accreditation, which are elements that technology cannot cancel.
He added that the graduation of a doctor, pilot, or engineer still depends on direct field training and the acquisition of approved practical skills, in addition to adherence to professional accreditation standards imposed by the relevant regulatory authorities.
He pointed out that the continuing global demand for doctors, engineers and pilots enhances the importance of these specialties and maintains their academic and professional value, stressing that artificial intelligence represents a supportive tool for specialists and not a substitute for them.
He said: “Technology may contribute to reducing the cost of some theoretical materials, learning tools, and initial simulations, but the highest cost part of these programs is related to practical training and specialized infrastructure. In short, artificial intelligence has succeeded in reducing the cost of transferring knowledge, but it has not reduced the cost of acquiring approved professional skills, which is the most expensive part in the specializations of medicine, engineering, and aviation.”
Huge amounts of technology
For his part, educational expert Dr. Saeed Al-Kaabi explained to Emirates Al-Youm that universities have invested huge sums in recent years in smart simulation technologies, virtual reality, and advanced digital systems, which has added new financial burdens instead of reducing them.
He added: “Medical, engineering, and aviation education does not depend on theoretical lectures only. Rather, it requires laboratories, advanced technical equipment, and continuous practical training. These are high-cost elements that cannot be dispensed with, no matter how advanced technology develops.”
He added that universities have become required to constantly update their devices and platforms, to keep pace with rapid professional and technical developments, which is directly reflected in the cost of running academic programs.
He said that artificial intelligence has become part of modern medical education, but it has not eliminated the need for direct clinical training, adding: “The student can benefit from artificial intelligence tools in diagnosis and analysis of medical data, but acquiring clinical skills and dealing with patients requires realistic training, which cannot be completely replaced by technology.”
Engineering in a new digital guise
Academic expert and professor at the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dr. Ahmed Al-Janabi, confirmed that engineering programs were among the specializations most affected by the rapid digital transformations, as universities in recent years have redesigned their curricula and laboratories to keep pace with the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He explained that modern engineering is no longer limited to traditional specializations, but rather includes advanced fields, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, renewable energy, and smart systems, which has imposed on academic institutions major investments in smart laboratories, technical infrastructure, and advanced simulation platforms. Al-Janabi said: “Some expected technology to reduce the cost of engineering education, but what happened is exactly the opposite, as modern technologies raised the ceiling of academic requirements and technical equipment necessary to prepare engineers capable of working in advanced digital industrial environments, which made investment in laboratories, equipment, and specialized training more important than ever before.”
Aviation
Al-Janabi pointed out that the aviation sector represents a clear example of specializations whose cost digitization has not succeeded in reducing, explaining that the qualification of pilots and technical personnel still depends on actual flight hours, high-precision simulators, and specialized training programs that require huge financial investments. He added that the digital transformation witnessed by the aviation sector globally did not reduce the cost of academic and professional qualification, but rather imposed new requirements related to training students in smart aviation systems, modern operating techniques, data management, and air safety, which increased the amount of investments required to maintain the quality of the programs and keep pace with developments. rapid growth in the industry.
Teaching methods
Artificial intelligence expert Dr. Muhammad Abdel-Zaher said that the impact of artificial intelligence in the most expensive specializations was not limited to modernizing teaching methods, but rather extended to reshaping the nature of the skills required within these specializations. He explained that the faculties of medicine, engineering, and aviation are no longer content with teaching traditional knowledge, but rather are integrating applications of artificial intelligence, data analysis, and smart systems within their curricula, to prepare graduates capable of working in professional environments that increasingly depend on advanced technology.
He added that the medical sector is witnessing a major transformation thanks to the use of artificial intelligence in analyzing medical images, supporting early diagnosis and predicting health risks, while engineering specializations benefit from intelligent design techniques, digital simulation and big data analysis, as artificial intelligence has become an essential part of modern aviation systems, air traffic management and predictive maintenance of aircraft. He stressed that these transformations have forced universities to constantly update their curricula, laboratories and equipment, to keep pace with rapid developments.
Raising the ceiling of required skills
He pointed out that artificial intelligence did not reduce the importance of the human element in these professions, but rather raised the ceiling of the skills required of graduates, explaining that the future doctor, future engineer, or future pilot will not only be required to master his basic specialty, but also the ability to deal with smart systems, understand their outputs, and make sound professional decisions based on them. He said that universities today are moving towards graduating cadres capable of working alongside artificial intelligence, and not competing with it or replacing it.
An equation governing applied specializations
Experts and academics have unanimously agreed that digitization and artificial intelligence have brought about a radical transformation in teaching and learning methods within higher education institutions, but they have not yet succeeded in breaking a basic equation that governs major applied specializations. The higher the requirements for specialized laboratories, clinical training, advanced simulation, and field experiments, the higher the cost of the academic program.
This equation reflects the continued dominance of 12 university majors on the list of the most expensive academic programs in the world, according to specialized international reports, which include human medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, health sciences, aviation and commercial aviation sciences, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, and robotics, in addition to software engineering and artificial intelligence in some advanced technical universities. The list also includes the specializations of architecture and architectural design, law and international business administration, MBA programs, veterinary medicine, film studies, and the arts and creative design, which are programs that require large investments in laboratories and studios. And technical equipment, practical training and professional accreditations, which explains why it continues to top the list of specializations with the highest fees, despite the rapid expansion in digital education and artificial intelligence applications.
