Oman’s first full-fledged private college celebrates thirty years

A habit of going first

Being early has been part of the college’s identity. Alongside being Oman’s first full-fledged private college, MCBS introduced, at different points, the country’s first doctorate in business administration and its first master’s degree in banking and finance. In 2012, it began offering an MBA with Franklin University in Ohio, and in 2016, it added master’s programs in information technology and Islamic banking and finance.

The most significant of these firsts is recent. MCBS became the first private institution in Oman to offer a PhD in Business Administration, and it does so in both Arabic and English. The program is aimed largely at mid-career professionals in government and industry, many of whom would previously have had to study abroad or put their careers on hold to earn a doctorate.

The bilingual design is deliberate. Much of Oman’s public administration and policy work is conducted in Arabic, and research intended to inform it is more useful when it can be read by the people it concerns. Offering both languages lets candidates choose the one that fits their topic and their audience.

Building research in a teaching college

Launching a doctorate is one thing. Sustaining it requires supervisors, a research culture and a pipeline of good proposals, none of which a teaching-led college has by default. MCBS has approached this by concentrating on applied research in areas where its faculty already have strong industry links: business, finance, information technology and management.

Its Industry Liaison Office, originally set up to arrange student internships, now also brokers research collaborations with employers. In its 2026 institutional review, Oman’s national quality assurance authority identified the college’s research strategy as an example of good practice.

Close to employers

Much of the MCBS curriculum has grown out of conversations with industry. Programs in Auditing and Forensic Accounting and in Game Development and Animation were introduced in response to skills shortages identified by employers. Dual-study arrangements with partners such as SAP allow students to earn professional certifications alongside their degrees.

Alumni provide another feedback loop. Harith Maqbali completed the Franklin University–MCBS MBA, which the college describes as the first American MBA offered in Oman, and went on to build Otaxi, an Omani ride-hailing platform later acquired by ITHCA Group and Yango Group. He has since returned to MCBS as a PhD candidate. Speaking at an alumni gathering in 2025, he said the program “gave me the tools and confidence to scale Otaxi from a startup to a national brand.”

Rasha Al Mamari, who earned a master’s degree in commercial law at MCBS, is now legal counsel at Daleel Petroleum. “The program connected the law to how businesses actually operate,” she said, “which is exactly what my work in the energy sector demands.” Abbas Al Lawati, who heads the audit function at OQ8 and received the global Audit Beacon Award, sits on the college’s Alumni Advisory Board.

The college has also sought external benchmarks. It holds a five-star rating under the QS Stars system, appears in the QS Arab Region University Rankings and is a member of the AACSB Business Education Alliance. It has also taken part in the Times Higher Education Impact assessment, which measures institutions against the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Its Estidama Center for Sustainability links that agenda to teaching, research, student projects and campus operations, and is measuring the college’s carbon footprint as the basis for a net-zero roadmap. MCBS is also a signatory of the SDG Accord and the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Management Education.

A demanding year

The college’s thirtieth year has not been without difficulty. Its 2026 institutional reaccreditation found that it met four of the six national standards, and it has been placed on probation pending reassessment in 2027. The areas identified for improvement sit in governance and management and in academic provision, while the review panel also recognised good practice in student scholarships, research strategy and community engagement.

MCBS is not alone in facing this kind of scrutiny. Oman’s quality assurance framework has become more rigorous over the past decade, and several of the country’s established private institutions have moved through probation to full accreditation. The college has said it accepts the outcome and is working through a detailed improvement plan.

What comes next

The challenges facing MCBS mirror those of the wider sector. Oman Vision 2040 asks higher education to build national research capacity, produce graduates ready for a diversifying economy and do so according to internationally recognised standards. With more institutions competing for students, being distinctive and demonstrably good at it matters more than it did when simply existing was an achievement.

For a college that has made a habit of going first, the next milestone is less about novelty and more about depth: stronger quality systems, a sustainable doctoral program and research that Omani organizations actually use. Its first thirty years showed that private higher education could take root in Oman. The coming years will show how far it can grow.nd the ability to distribute your content around the world in mere seconds, writing this paragraph could be one of the most influential things you ever do!