Qatar to Build Its First Community College, With Help From One in Houston

Qatar and Houston Community College have signed a $45-million contract to open the first community college in the Persian Gulf nation, reports The Houston Chronicle. The new institution, called the Community College of Qatar, is set to open this fall. The five-year deal is the most recent sign of the Houston college’s effort to become more international. In recent years it has started programs in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, though none of those projects are as ambitious as the one in Qatar. “We need to prepare our students to be comfortable in a global environment,” Mary S. Spangler, the community college’s chancellor, told the newspaper. Qatar has also focused on making its higher-education system more global. In 1995 the small nation built a compound known as Education City outside its capital; so far, six American universities have set up programs there.