Harrisburg University closes international offices

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is pulling out of its international locations in United Arab Emirates and Panama. 

In a recent town hall meeting with staff, Eric Darr, president of the STEM-centric university said after two major investors withdrew their support for the programs in UAE, the Board of Trustees made the decision to close the programs.  

“Personally, this is a hard decision for me. I’ve worked for years to get regulatory approval and the bureaucracy is thick,” Darr said in the town hall, in an unlisted employee live stream.  

HU announced July 20, 2023, that its campus in Dubai with four graduate programs in Dubai Knowledge Park would start its first semester in September of that year. 

At the time, Darr said, “This is a historic moment for Harrisburg University as it shows the reputation the university has as a world-class institution in STEM fields and our successful record in working with government entities with professional development. This is our first program being delivered in UAE, but there will be more to follow.” 

Harrisburg University, in a statement said, “At the Dubai campus, the process to enroll students was lengthy from a regulatory standpoint, and the decision on how to best move forward is being reviewed with trustees and regulatory partners. As this process continues, we remain committed to our enrolled students, and will continue to deliver an HU graduate-level education for the program in which students are enrolled.”

During the town hall, Darr said, “We had just enrolled the first students. We had a very successful campus grand opening and two investors in short order; for reasons that still remain unclear to me, they decided to withdraw their support.  

 “Given the financial challenges HU has in the U.S., the trustees decided we are done,” he said. “We are in the process of ceasing operations in the UAE.” 

Darr told the staff the same bureaucracy that exists when a company starts those operations exists when it ceases them. 

“It isn’t nearly as easy as it is in the U.S. You have to name a certified liquidator. You have to hire one of those in Dubai and another in Abu Dhabi.” he said. “We are in the process of that, and it will take months to unravel.” 

Darr said he still believes there is great opportunity for HU in the UAE and the region.  

“Today is not the day we will pursue that. I think the trustees are interested in us remaining focused on the state of Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region, our home in some sense and not really supportive of international activities at this point in time. That is my sense.” 

In noting the importance of international students to the university’s revenue stream, Darr said, “International students pursuing graduate degrees remain by far the largest revenue generator by far for HU.” 

He noted that as of the last two years, student numbers have bounced back and increased.  

“In 2017, 2018, we brought in 2,700 new international graduate students a year,” Darr said. “That number shrank in 2021-22 to about 1,400 students. That was not good.  

“And this past year, we brought in around 2,000 new students. Much better than 1,400, not quite 2,700,” he said. “The challenge is that it takes years to bring back a pool of returning students. That ripples through the university for years to come because they are not the students to return. This past year we brought in 2k, but we are feeling the effects of previous years.” 

In addition to shuttering the UAE campuses, HU has halted its program in Panama, which opened in April 2022.  

“We started the process of unwinding Panama some months ago. We are out of Panama,” he said. “It was much easier to enter into in the first place and much easier to exit out of in the second place. We have retained regulatory approval from Panama both from the Panamanian side of it and the state side of it by taking some dominium lease for a closet in Panama. If I could do the same thing and retain the option in UAE I would.” 

Darr went on to say, “Right now, given the trustees and their desires as I interpret them, we will be focused on things that are more approximate, more local and certainly focused on the main industries Pennsylvania cares about including agriculture, manufacturing and health care.” 

This story has been updated to include a new statement from Harrisburg University and to correct errors in enrollment data originally reported.