Pharos is the first private university to open in Alexandria. It was opened by presidential decree in 2006 to offer an alternative destination for those wishing to study in Egypt’s second-largest city.
The university has 11 faculties: engineering; dentistry; pharmacy and drugs manufacturing; languages and translation; business administration and financial sciences; legal studies and international relations; tourism and hotel management; applied medical science; mass communication; physical therapy; and arts and design.
Nearly 3,000 students are studying at Pharos, the vast bulk of which are undergraduates, with just over 700 faculty members.
Pharos University is based in Smouha, a suburb of Alexandria which is about 20 minutes’ drive from the city centre. It is located right next to Alexandria International Airport, which closed for refurbishment in 2011 and still remains unopened.
Over five million people live in Alexandria, which gets its name from ancient conqueror Alexander the Great who is believed to have founded the city. Among many other sights, it is home to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
The university’s campus features a physiotherapy and dental clinic, with discounts for students and staff members, as well as a student theatre, a conference hall and a food court. Other facilities on campus include a drug research centre and an anatomy museum.
Pharos University has a number of agreements in place with international organisations and universities, including the British Council, and Goethe University in Frankfurt. Dual degree programmes are run in cooperation with the Technological University of Dublin, Ireland and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
