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New College in Qatar Relies on COMPASS® for Student Placement
ACT’s COMPASS system is helping officials at a new college in Qatar provide students with the dream of a lifetime.
The Community College of Qatar (CCQ) is administering the COMPASS English as a Second Language (ESL) placement tests as part of its application process for prospective students. These tests allow the college to assess non-native English speakers’ abilities and place them in appropriate courses.
The new Community College of Qatar will begin offering classes to 300 full-time students in this three-story building in late September. Located on C-Ring Road in Doha, the building provides space for up to 1,500 students. To maximize the space, college officials plan to offer full-time classes during the day and part-time classes in the evening for working students. They expect to build a permanent college campus in a few years.
“Thanks to the collaboration of Qatar University and Houston Community College, we were able to give 1,500 students the COMPASS ESL tests in two weeks, helping us identify 300 students for an opportunity they’ve always wanted but never thought they’d have—to attend college,” said Judith Hansen, dean of CCQ.
The Qatar Supreme Education Council (SEC) is partnering with Houston Community College (HCC) to establish the new institution. As one of the United States’ largest community colleges, HCC offers experience with COMPASS and international student populations to help officials launch Qatar’s first community college. It is providing accredited certificate and degree programs, credentialed faculty, and staff during the initial stages of CCQ’s development.
Located in Qatar’s capital city of Doha, CCQ will begin offering classes in late September. The college is intended to fill a need for higher education in the country and help strengthen the Qatari workforce.
A large number of Qatari high school graduates have been unable to attend the country’s four-year institutions because they cannot meet the high admission standards.
“There is an increasing gap between the number of high school students who don’t go to college and those who do. Many Qatari high school graduates go directly to or look for a job,” said Hansen.
Higher Education in Qatar
The Community College of Qatar (CCQ) is the latest in the country’s growing initiative in higher education. CCQ joins Qatar University, established by Emiri Decree in 1977, as a state higher education institution. CCQ Steering Committee Chair and Project Director, Ibrahim S. Al-Naimi, is a former president of Qatar University. In 1995, the Qatar Foundation established Education City, a 2,500-acre campus on the outskirts of Doha, which includes an ACT Test Center for its branch campus universities and other institutions. Education City is home to branch campuses of some of the world’s leading universities, including Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and Northwestern University.
Education City, Qatar University, and now CCQ help fulfill the Qatar National Vision 2030. By then, Qatar aims to reduce reliance on expatriate employees to provide the high standard of living Qatari citizens enjoy. The vision includes developing a world-class educational system that equips citizens to achieve their aspirations and provide Qatar with a highly trained and competitive workforce.
Interest in attending college is high among Qatari students, as evidenced by their response to an open house held in June by the SEC Higher Education Institute. “We thought a hundred students showing interest would be a reasonable expectation based on response to similar past launches of Qatar universities. Imagine our surprise when, by the end of the second week of accepting online applications, a thousand students had signed up to attend CCQ.”
Students lined up for two hours before the doors opened on the day of the open house and again at Qatar University to register for the COMPASS ESL tests. More students submitted applications and registered to take the assessments. Those not admitted for the first semester have been placed on a waiting list for admission, while many more students wait to take the placement tests. Officials plan to admit more students in January, when the college expects to begin offering part-time courses.
Students were initially fearful of the COMPASS ESL tests because they were accustomed to pass/fail exams, said Hansen. “They got excited once they realized that these tests would help them go to college and be placed in the courses they need to be successful.”