Start of the Academic Year at CUE

The Catholic University in Erbil (CUE) celebrated the start of the new academic year in October when opening its doors to new students in degree programs in accounting, international relations, and information technology.

The language of instruction at the university is English, so most new students are following the preparatory “foundation year” curriculum which focuses on academic English and study skills before starting degree programs next year. A diagnostic test helped place them in the right level. Most English teachers are native speakers.

One of the teachers, John Neill, a retired executive of the BBC, spoke about the new students: “I could not believe how energetic they are. Last week, they came in ten minutes early, because they know my class always begins with a quiz or test. They are responding very well to the strong challenges they’ve been set.”

Students at CUE are prepared to be skilled leaders to effectively contribute in developing Kurdistan-Iraq economy and improve people’s standard of living. Accordingly, the curriculum include a course on community service with project-based learning.

Many students say they hope to further their study in their specified fields at other Catholic universities around the world, where they can become successful faculty members and researchers.