Global demand drives record enrolment at Mohamed bin Zayed AI University

The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence has enrolled its largest ever intake for autumn 2025, with more than 400 new students — including its first undergraduate cohort — joining programmes across AI disciplines. The record intake follows 8,000 applications and a 5% acceptance rate, taking the university’s student body past 700 and reinforcing its status among the world’s top AI institutions

The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has taken in its biggest ever intake for the autumn 2025 term, according to new figures.

More than 400 students have enrolled at the university this autumn, including its first-ever undergraduate class.

The 403-strong intake also covers new cohorts across existing AI disciplines, alongside the launch of Master’s programmes in Statistics & Data Science and Applied Artificial Intelligence.

MBZUAI drew over 8,000 applications for its undergraduate and graduate courses this semester, with just 5 per cent securing a place.

According to the university, this reinforces its “position and ability to attract the best talent in the UAE and from around the world”.

Timothy Baldwin, MBZUAI Provost and Professor of Natural Language Processing, said: “This year, MBZUAI welcomes our largest cohort of graduate students alongside our inaugural undergraduate class.

“Artificial intelligence is transforming the world at a pace that vastly outstrips traditional education models.

“To realise its full global potential, MBZUAI invests heavily in reviewing and updating our programmes to reflect modern AI research methodology and workflows, based on our bleeding-edge AI research credentials and grounded in societal and industrial needs.

“As a young institution, MBZUAI has already earned a place among the world’s top 10 AI universities based on our research credentials.

“With the introduction of our undergraduate and Master’s in Applied AI programmes, we continue to build world-leading programmes aligned with the UAE’s National Strategy for AI 2031 and supporting Abu Dhabi’s rapidly growing AI ecosystem.”

The newly launched Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence programme offers two areas of study – AI for Business and AI for Engineering – combining “technical rigor with leadership, hands-on entrepreneurship, and in-situ industry experience”.

The first class consists of 115 undergraduate students from more than 25 countries, over 25 per cent of which are UAE Nationals.

MBZUAI’s student body has now topped 700, drawn from more than 47 nationalities.

The Fall 2025 intake includes undergraduates from countries such as China, India, the UAE and the UK, while postgraduates hail from across Europe, North America and Asia.

Over a quarter of new graduate students hold degrees from the world’s top 100 computer science universities, including Cornell, Tsinghua and Edinburgh.

The new arrivals are being welcomed with an Orientation Week mixing academic sessions, mentoring and cultural activities showcasing UAE heritage.

Professor Baldwin added: “The jobs of tomorrow are being shaped by AI today and we must ensure that future generations are equipped with the tools and skills to navigate that shift.

“Our extraordinarily talented students don’t just learn about AI, but learn with it, through it, and for it.

“This is an extraordinary value proposition across all our programmes, but especially for our undergraduate students, who will be studying towards a bachelor’s degree in AI that I believe sets a new global benchmark in terms of technical depth, real-world relevance, and the high-end AI job-readiness of the students.”

Take a virtual tour around MBZUAI’s campus here.

Main photo: MBZUAI