(CNN) -- Next year's college applicants have some difficult choices to make. Is it better to go to state school or private? Stay close to home or ship out to Abu Dhabi? Western students receiving their education in the UAE is not as far-fetched as it might sound as some of the world's most respected collegiate brands have set up outposts in the Gulf region. Dubai hosts 52 universities while Qatar has set up Education City, a sector that houses a number of U.S. colleges including Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown, and Northwestern. Next year, the first students admitted to New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi will graduate; a benchmark almost as significant as the scheduled completion of the university's new Saadiyat Island campus.
@highlight
Numerous western universities have outposts in Middle East Gulf states
@highlight
UAE and Qatar have an eye on transitioning to a knowledge-based economy
@highlight
Some worry education provided by colleges will be curtailed by restrictions on freedom of speech
"There's recognition (in the @placeholder) that they need to prepare for the post-oil world, and they realize that a knowledge-based economy ensures growth in the future."