Introduction :

At the start of the 19th century, professors, poets, journalists, and historians convened in Lebanese cultural institutions to revive old Arab traditions and extol the value of modern culture. Lebanon’s seven major universities and numerous specialized colleges were thus founded. For example, the American University in Beirut, founded in 1866, offers a liberal education that has trained many of the region's leaders, educators, and scientists. A Lebanese state university was founded in 1967 comprising faculties of law, medicine, arts, and science. Moreover, Lebanon's nation-wide network of elementary and secondary public and private schools lay a strong foundation for further university education and vocational training.

Schools :

All Lebanese schools are required to follow a prescribed curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education. Private schools, approximately 1,400 in all, may also add more courses to their curriculum with approval from the Ministry of Education. The main subjects taught are mathematics, sciences, history, civics, geography, Arabic, and either French or English or both. The subjects gradually increase in difficulty and in number. Students in Grade 11, for example, usually study up to eighteen different subjects.

The government introduces a mild form of selectivity into the curriculum by giving 11th graders choice between two "concentrations": sciences, humanities, and 12th graders choose between four concentrations: life sciences, general sciences, sociology and economics, and humanities and literature. The choices in concentration do not include major changes in the number of subjects taken (if at all). However, subjects that fall out of the concentration are given less weight in grading and are less rigorous, while subjects that fall within the concentration are more challenging and contribute significantly to the final grade.

Students go through three academic phases:

- Elementary: Six years.
- Intermediate: Three years; students earn Intermediate Certification (Lebanese Brevet) at completion.
- Secondary: three years, students who pass official exams earn a Baccalaureate Certificate (Baccalauréat Libanais) in the concentration they chose in 12th grade. Students studying at French-system schools may also graduate with a French Baccalaureate that is considered equivalent to the Lebanese Baccalaureate.

These three phases are provided free to all students and the first eight years are, by law, compulsory.[56] Nevertheless, this requirement currently falls short of being fully enforced.

Higher Education :

Following secondary school, Lebanese students may choose to study at a university, a college, or a vocational training institute. The number of years to complete each program varies. While the Lebanese educational system offer a very high quality and international class of education, the local employment market lacks of enough opportunities, thus encouraging many of the young educated to travel abroad.

Lebanon has 41 nationally-accredited universities, several of which are internationally recognized. The American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) were the first Anglophone and the first Francophone universities to open in Lebanon, respectively. The forty-one universities, both public and private, largely operate in French, or English as these are the most widely used foreign languages in Lebanon.

At the English universities, students who have graduated from an American-style high school program enter at the freshman level to earn their baccalaureate equivalence from the Lebanese Ministry of Higher Education. This qualifies them to continue studying at the higher levels. Such students are required to have already taken the SAT I and the SAT II upon applying to college, in lieu of the official exams. On the other hand, students who have graduated from a school that follows the Lebanese educational system are directly admitted to the sophomore year. These students are still required to take the SAT I, but not the SAT II. The University academic degrees for the first stage are the Bachelor or the Licence, for the second stage are the Master or the DEA and the third stage is the doctorate.

List of Universities in Lebanon :

American University of Beirut (AUB) www.aub.edu.lb
Université Saint Esprit Kaslik (USEK) www.usek.edu.lb
Université Saint Joseph (USJ) www.usj.edu.lb
Notre-Dame University www.ndu.edu.lb
Balamand University www.balamand.edu.lb
Beirut Arab University www.bau.edu.lb
Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) www.esa.edu.lb
Ecole Supérieure et internationale de Gestion (ESIG) www.esig.edu.lb
Lebanese American University www.lau.edu.lb
Lebanese University www.ul.edu.lbAcadémie libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) www.alba.edu
Antonine University (UPA) www.upa.edu.lb
American University College of Technology (AUT) www.aut.edu
American University of Science and Technology (AUST) www.aust.edu.lb
Arab Open University (AOU) www.arabou-lb.edu.lb
Business and Computer University College (BCU) www.hu.edu.lb
Beirut University Online (BU) www.buonline.edu.lb
C&E American University(C&E AU) www.candeau.edu.lb
Global University www.gu.edu.lb
Haigazian University www.haigazian.edu.lb
Islamic University of Lebanon (IUL) www.iul.edu.lb/
Al Jinan University www.jinan.edu.lb
Lebanese International University (LIU) www.liu.edu.lb
Manar University of Tripoli (MUT) www.mut.edu.lb
Matn University www.matnu.edu.lb
Middle East University (MEU) www.meu.edu.lb
Université de la Sagesse www.uls.edu.lb
The Near East School of Theology www.theonest.edu.lb