The Arab world is engaged in a higher education arms race as it struggles to train unprecedented numbers of young adults for the jobs of tomorrow.

With government jobs dwindling and oil reserves drying up, countries across the region are increasingly turning to private universities to give students the skills that employers require in today’s high-tech economy. At the same time, political leaders are investing heavily to reposition their countries as leaders in producing new discoveries and research.

“Most universities that are opening in the region — good and not-so-good — tend to be professional schools,” says Ahmad Dallal, provost at the American University of Beirut, a leading research university in the Arab world. “But the region needs a critical mass of research institutions and needs to contribute to knowledge production, not just the transmission of knowledge.”

As a result, the Middle East and North Africa region, led by the Gulf states, has seen an explosion in the number of universities in recent years to more than 800 today, according to a comprehensive directory produced by US News & World Report. The trend offers today’s prospective students more choices than ever before — but with no easy way to shop around for the best option as participation in accreditation bodies and worldwide rankings lags behind.