Foreign colleges operating in the Persian Gulf region have always had a difficult time finding local students with both the English-language and critical-thinking skills needed to make the transition into a Western-style educational program.

Michigan State University has come up with one possible solution.

This fall the university will open a bridge academy for students who aspire to enroll in a foreign institution, according to The National, a newspaper based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Over a series of three 10-week terms, students at MSU Dubai Academy will study a range of subjects, learn how to take standardized tests, and improve their ability to think critically — a challenge in a region where education is often transmitted through rote memorization.

“It really is a bridge, if not a fast track, for students in the region who want to have the necessary requirements to be admitted to world-class universities,” Brendan Mullan, executive director of MSU Dubai, told the newspaper. “We know there is a demand in the region, an aspiration, for more students to meet the admissions requirements necessary to get into the top universities around the world.”

The newspaper reported that Michigan State, which opened a campus in Dubai last fall, has enrolled just 60 students so far. Most other foreign campuses in the Gulf have similarly small enrollment numbers, and last month George Mason University decided to close its local campus, in part, for lack of qualified students. —Beth McMurtrie