By virtue of the Royal Decree (76/2020), the former Colleges of Technology (CoTs), the former Colleges of Applied Sciences (CAS), and the former Rustaq College of Education were merged under a single umbrella to form a university, thus, the establishment of a branch-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) called the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) on January 2020. Such merging is motivated by the Oman Vision 2040[3] with focus on the National Strategy for Education 2040, Scientific Research Strategy, and the Innovation Strategy, keeping abreast with the modern challenges, priorities, and needs.
The UTAS has a population strength of 46,230 students who are registered in the Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Bachelor levels, taking a wide-range of specializations in the fields of Pharmacy, Engineering, Applied Sciences, Business Studies, Information Technology, Applied Photography, Fashion Design, Education, Applied Biotechnology, Engineering, Mass Communication Studies, International Business Administration, Information Technology, and Design. With the increasing number of students, the UTAS has emerged as the largest university in the Sultanate of Oman.
History
The College of Technology (COTs) was once having seven (7) branches, namely: Higher College of Technology, Ibra College of Technology (https://www.ict.edu.om/), Salalah College of Technology, Al Musanna College of Technology (https://www.act.edu.om/), Nizwa College of Technology (https://w ww.nct.edu.om), Shinas College of Technology, and Ibri College of Technology. It was known as Oman Technical Industrial College (OTIC), established in 1984 at the initiative of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said to educate the citizens of Oman by implementing high-quality programs in various fields. There were five other Colleges of Technology established in 1993 except the ones in Shinas and Ibri, which were started in 2005 and 2008, respectively. The COTs was under the Oman’s Ministry of Manpower (now, Ministry of Labor).
The College of Applied Sciences (CAS) was once a group of thirteen public colleges with six campus namely: Ibri College of Applied Sciences, Sohar College of Applied Sciences, Salalah College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa College of Applied Sciences, and Sur College of Applied Sciences. These colleges were established in 2007 as per Royal Decree 62/2007. Notably, prior to the colleges' establishment, some of the colleges operated as teaching colleges which offered two-year degrees to future teachers of the Ministry of Education and was known from 1985-1995 as the Intermediate College and from 1995-2007 as the College of Education. CAS was under Oman's Ministry of Higher Education (now, Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation).