There are several interesting rankings of top government sites built with Drupal. However, Drupal is good not only for Ministries and NGOs - it is also a great choice for schools and universities. Harvard, Yale, MIT and many other of the most prominent schools worldwide choose Drupal as a CMS for their sites because of its scalability, flexibility, and security.
Complete list of Drupal advantages
But what about the Middle East? Do Arab universities and schools realize the benefits that Drupal can give them or do they still use cheaper solutions? Only a deep dive into the knowledge pool of various universities’ websites can help us reach a conclusion. Thus, we made a detailed study into the same and prepared the list of 10 most popular Arabic educational Drupal websites according to Alexa global rank.
Being formatted in ascending order, the list contains the basic introduction about each university, its Drupal version, Alexa global rank and the general features of its website witnessed by a common visitor. Here are the top 10 universities located in the Middle East.
10. Princess Sumaya University For Technology
Alexa Global Rank: 293,597
Drupal Version: 7.3x
Founded by the Royal Scientific Society in 1991, Princess Sumaya University for Technology is actually the most prominent Applied Research Center situated in Jordan. It is a non-governmental and non-profit university that offers Bachelor & Master programs in all the engineering disciplines. Apart from this, the university offers higher education programs in Business Management as well.
Princess Sumaya University for Technology consists of four schools; each school delivers quality education in its specialized discipline. This means Computer Science, Engineering, Business Management, and Research each have their own specialized school at the university.
The university website is a unique blend of creativity and technical capabilities. The design itself displays an excellent thought process utilized in its development. The usability, user experience, and easy navigation are the features this website contains. The high definition pictures of the university kept in homepage slide add a feather to the cap of this user-friendly website.
A homepage in 5.97 MB size takes only 4 seconds to load shows its feature of speed friendly website. Rather than filling the homepage with so many elements, the most prominent features such as e-services, e-learning, media, video gallery, sitemap etc. have been given a highlighted space. All other informative links have their perfect position in the header and footer.
9. German Jordanian University
Alexa Global Rank: 276,566
Drupal Version: 7.3x
German Jordanian University, founded in 2005 in Mushaqqar, Jordan comes on 9th position among top 10 Universities in the Middle East. The university was established with a motto of enhancing knowledge transfer between Jordan and Germany by blending together their best educational models.
Currently, the university is offering 20 undergraduate and graduate programs to approximately 5000 students in which female students are almost the half. The university has its own specific curriculum different from all the other Jordanian universities because it has been developed in relevance to the German Applied Sciences model.
Just like its unique curriculum and rich education methodologies, the Website of the German Jordanian University is also a unique one in its thought process. The best designed and the easiest usability makes it better than all the previous options. The homepage slide containing the real pictures of university students and campus displays everything you want to know about the university. The color theme, graphics, and other technical elements are excellently utilized and thus, make it a user-friendly website.
The Homepage is 4.1 MB, but still, takes only 3.34 seconds to load. Both the header and footer contain links that directly navigate you to the information you are looking for. Thus, the usability, user experience, and speed are better than your expectations. See the announcements slide below the university pictures. You are kept updated with all the latest announcements on the Homepage itself.
8. University of Bisha
Alexa Global Rank: 202,495
Drupal Version: 7.4x
The eighth position among top 10 universities in the Middle East has proudly been secured by University of Bisha located in Saudi Arabia. Founded only a couple of years ago the university has achieved a worldwide recognition by offering quality higher education. Certain features such as quality education, modern infrastructure, students’ friendly campus especially for girls and latest educational & technical amenities are responsible for giving the best learning experience to students, here, at the University of Bisha.
‘Simplicity dipped into soberness’ is the easiest phrase to describe its website in short. The homepage itself exhibits the uniqueness of thought process, utilized while developing the website. The very first positivity that hits a visitor is its multilingual accessibility. The website is accessible both in Arabic and English language making it easy for non-Arabic visitors to find the information they need.
Apart from this, the header is designed with a feature of easy navigation, especially for the students and faculty. Here the students and employees are given an easy navigation to the links they need the information in these links each has its specific page. And in the footer, every link has been individualized with a specific logo.
When we look into the technical features of the website, we find it perfect here also. The homepage is made of 7.8 MB size that takes only 6.50 seconds to load making a speed-friendly. In a nutshell, the university website has all the features to recognize it as a user-friendly website.
7. Gulf University for Science & Technology
Alexa Global Rank: 155,830
Drupal Version: 7
Founded in 2002, Gulf University of Science & Technology (GUST) commonly known as Gulf University is a private university located in West Mishref, Kuwait. It seems really surprising that a young University that celebrated its first commencement ceremony in June 2007 stands on the 7th position among the top 10 universities in the Middle East.
Currently, Gulf University has been inculcating capable professionals in various technical and professional disciplines. Approximately 145 well-known academic faculty members from 31 different countries have been saturating their meticulous knowledge and skills to thousands of students.
The blue and white color combination of the website makes it catchy and attractive. The website has been developed in relevance to the usability and user experience. Though the heavy homepage of 2.4 MB slows down its speed as it takes 7.61 Seconds to load yet the easy navigation and smooth functioning makes a visitor forget the speed issue. And also, the website is available in English version only, it sometimes creates language problem for Arabic native speakers.
Simple but impressive exhibition of all the website elements and relevant links makes it a user-friendly website. There is no hustle-bustle of content, sections, or links on the homepage. You will find only the required information on it. Thus, it can be called a cutting-edge website that has the capacity to grab good reviews from the visitors.
6. Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University
Alexa Global Rank: 38,831
Drupal Version: 8
Among top 10 universities in the Middle East, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University owns the proud position of being on the sixth rank. Formerly known as Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz University or the University of Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University was established in 2007 in the city of Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
The current name of the university was adopted in the beginning of 2015. Currently, the university is delivering higher education to approx 30,000 students in 80 different programs. It is only the quality education that has brought various national and international accreditations for different programs.
The university has an excellently designed website that is built with the latest Drupal 8. It greatly speaks about the university, its features, academic programs, and guidelines for a new visitor. The header in the website contains everything in a nutshell. Whatever information is required related to administration, courses, jobs, research programs, and more, the header will provide a direct link to the same. Thus, the website features an easy navigation for a visitor.
Main reasons to migrate to Drupal 8
The homepage that acquires a size of 1.1 MB takes 4.2 seconds to load. It designates the website to be speed-friendly. The social media platforms of the university have been given a place at the right top. All the other useful links have been placed in the footer. The website, thus, provides a user-friendly experience as well. So, the overall experience of the website is very positive.
5. Majmaah University
Alexa Global Rank: 37,501
Drupal Version: 7.4x
Founded in 2009 in Al Majma'ah region, Majmaah University can be regarded as one of the youngest universities located in Saudi Arabia. Having a total number of 13 academic schools, the university has been established with a motto of expanding higher education around the region and providing quality education to the growing number of young graduates in the Middle East.
It is one of the only perfect utilization of educational resources and the unified efforts of management, faculty, and students established just within 7 years; Majmaah University stands tall on the fifth rank among top 10 universities in the Middle East with Drupal website. Currently, the university offers diploma, bachelor, masters, and research programs in various disciplines.
The university website has also played a major role in bringing the university to its heights. The Website of Majmaah University is an outcome of rich creativity and professional capabilities. The beautiful layout of the website, the extraordinary color combination, and unique design concept is really a treat to the eyes when visited for the first time. The high definition picture on the homepage showing students from various streams brings an artistic touch.
In technical terms, the website is capable enough to provide an excellent experience to its users. A size of 1.5 MB takes only 1.28 seconds for the homepage to load. The header has all the sections and subsections with links that take the visitor directly to the page he/she wants. So the navigation feature of the website is just as a user likes. Thus, the website contains all the features of being speed-friendly and user-friendly.
4. King Khalid University
Alexa Global Rank: 30,282
Drupal Version: 7.4x
Being established in 1998 in Aseer region, KKU has evolved into a premier institution in Saudi Arabia just within a short span of time. The various factors such as modern infrastructure, latest educational amenities, a wide gamut of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs, a large number of disciplines, meticulous faculty and much more have elevated the reputation of the university throughout the Middle East.
Recently, King Khalid University (KKU) has secured the 604 rank among top 700 universities in the world and also achieved a prominent position among the best universities in the Middle East. Inculcated from the merger of two schools, King Khalid University also enjoys the designation of the biggest academic institution saturating quality higher education to approx 72000 students.
The university website exhibits really a different design and thought process. The whole website designed on a white background looks so beautiful in the first look. The pictures have been utilized on the website just in accordance to the theme of the page.
The website’s homepage having a size of 3.0 Mb is overfilled with the informative links yet it only takes 5.36 seconds to load. And also, the visitors find it easy to operate due to its well-designed header & footer. Thus, the website is sure to get good reviews from the visitors in relevance to the user experience.
3. Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University
Alexa Global Rank: 26,233
Drupal Version: 7
The third rank among the top ten Middle East universities goes to the University of Dammam located in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The university that was established in 1975 with two colleges – College of Medicine and College of Architecture has now expanded into 21 colleges in the Eastern province. From graduate to research programs, the University of Dammam is providing quality education to approx 45000 students. Currently, the University has been offering a broad spectrum of bachelor, masters, and research courses in Medicine, Engineering, Science and Management and Arts disciplines.
The university website has been developed and maintained meticulously. The very first advantage of the website is its rich content framework. Every section, every landing page contains a rich informative content. Secondly, the color combination of the website is really fantastic. The beautiful combination of blue, white and cream colors make it look more beautiful. And the multicolored main menu on homepage looks like a rainbow on a white sky. Thirdly, each page link is available on the homepage that makes the website navigation an easy task. The header and the footer have all the required links that make it easy to navigate to the required page.
The website homepage takes only 3.20 seconds to load due to its speed-friendly size of 585.6 KB. Therefore, the website is not only easy to operate but provides a speedy navigation as well. Thus, the website provides a better user end experience.
2. The American University in Cairo
Alexa Global Rank: 22,309
Drupal Version: 7.4x
Being established in Egypt in 1919, The American University in Cairo was founded by Charles A. Watson. Though AUC was the first English-University in the Middle East, yet it was established with a motto of contributing to the intellectual, social and cultural growth of the Arab World. In the beginning, it was both a preparatory school and a university with only men allowed to get admission.
Since its inception, AUC went through various changes and advancements that shaped it into the 2nd most famous university in the Middle East. Currently, AUC is spread over 260 acres having 25 departments and institute and offering approximately 36 undergraduate, 44 masters, and two research programs.
When it comes to the AUC website, the very first thing that strikes in a visitor’s mind is that the university website is so simple and sober. A beautifully designed yet an easily accessible website that makes a visitor grab his/her required information by going directly to the specific link. Both the main menu navigation and the footer have all the required links to navigate on the specific page you require. You can also see all the social media symbols on the footer that will direct you on the social platforms of the university.
The website saturates a pleasing user end experience due to its perfect design, impressive landing pages, good speed, and easy navigation. The homepage is so impressively designed that it attracts a visitor to explore more into it. The real pictures of the university add beauty to the website. And mainly the homepage that is of 1.0 MB takes only 2.11 seconds to load. Thus, in terms of speed and navigation, the website is really user-friendly.
1. King Saud University
Alexa global rank: 6,098
Drupal version: 7.43
Established in 1957, King Saud University owns the pride of being not only the first but also the most famous University in Saudi Arabia. In 1953, Abdulaziz al Saud announced to establish the first higher education institution in Saudi Arabia to enhance the cultural and scientific knowledge in the country along with spreading Islamic faith among the coming generations. Subsequently, King Saud University was founded in Riyadh.
Today, the university has been accelerating higher education in all the streams such as Engineering, Medical Sciences, and Humanities and so on. Being a premier institution with 24 colleges, King Saud University has been ranked no. 1 in the Middle East. The greatest feature of the university is that it has separate colleges for girls just to initiate higher education among girls in a country where girls don’t enjoy much freedom in their social life.
The Website of King Saud University presents an actual display of the university itself. The very first feature of the university website is its compatibility in the English language along with Arabic. It enables the visitors throughout the globe to find the information they require. Secondly, the website has been designed and executed in a way that stresses more on giving the detailed knowledge into everything rather than focusing on designs only. Thirdly, each informative topic on the website has a different page for it and is easily accessible for a visitor to find his/her relevant information.
If we talk about the user end experience, everything on the website such as design, speed, content, and information is capable enough to grab good reviews and a five-star rating from its visitors. The homepage size is only 1.3 MB that just consumes 3.50 seconds to load.
Conclusion
As promised, we have presented a deep insight into every university’s basic information. Though all the information is just true as it is taken from reliable sources yet only the figures may differ sometimes according to the changing trends.
Although the most of these websites are relatively new, they have achieved great popularity and high rankings. On one hand their popularity depends on high academic level and a number of students, but on the other hand, Google doesn’t rank high websites that have problems with the code and are not SEO-optimized. The success of sites listed in this article is also achieved with their powerful CMS.
Drupal is the latest Content Management System in vogue these days. Having various versions, Drupal saturates the achievements for a website far above the expectations. And that’s the reason why most of the academic institutions or schools in the Middle East prefer Drupal distributions when building their websites.
If you have plans to build a site and achieve highest rankings, Drupal is the right fit for you. For assistance migrating to Drupal or building a modern website for your university, contact Vardot.