Academic Pathway | Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology

Academic Pathway

* Study programs:

The duration of study at the Higher Institute to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering is five years.

PDF icon Clarification Letter about Transition to a New Educational System.pdf

The program consists of a set of interrelated courses with prerequisite relationships, integrated from the perspective of meeting the intended learning outcomes. The program spans five years and consists of two consecutive phases:

 

1- The Foundation Phase:
It extends over two academic years and corresponds to a transitional study program that includes general courses that are common to all accredited study programs at the Higher Institute, and semi-general courses, each of which shares some of those programs. The courses are distributed over the two years, so that the general courses are concentrated in the first year, which is viewed as a general foundational year, while the second year includes the rest of the phase’s courses and is viewed as a foundational year for the specialization, as some of these courses vary according to the targeted orientation in the specialization phase, which may be linked to one study program or more. There are currently four directions for the second academic year: one targeting Informatics Engineering program, another targeting Telecommunication, Electronic Systems, and Mechatronics Engineering programs, a third targeting Materials Sciences and Engineering program, and a fourth targeting the Aeronautical Engineering program.

2- The Specialization Phase:

It extends over three academic years and corresponds to a phased study program that mainly includes specific academic curricula related to the relevant specialization, in addition to general or semi-general curricula that correspond to the need of the specialization and allow for the fulfillment of the targeted learning outcomes of the study program. The program also includes a project at the end of the fourth academic year, and a graduation project at the end of the fifth academic year. HIAST currently offers the following specialization programs:

  • Informatics Engineering - Software Engineering & Artificial Intelligence
  • Informatics Engineering - Network & Operating Systems
  • Electronic Systems Engineering
  • Mechatronics Engineering
  • Telecommunication Engineering
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Aeronautical Engineering

Each course of the study program corresponds to a number of learning units commensurate with the required academic load (the number of hours of direct communication inside the class plus the number of hours of estimated personal effort outside the class). The total academic load for one academic year shall not be less than 55 learning units. The definition of the learning unit is consistent with the definition of the unit approved in the European system used in this field (European Credit Transfer System ECTS).
The student must meet the success or advancement requirements in each year before he can advance to the next year, and the bachelor’s degree in engineering will only be granted after achieving all the credit hours for the five years of study as specified in the relevant study program.

* Success Regulations:

  1.  The student’s grade in the course is calculated by taking the weighted average of the grades of written tests, student work, and other evaluation methods, according to the weights specified in the course description document, and the calculated grade is rounded to the highest integer.
  2.  The student’s average for the academic year is calculated by taking the average of his courses' grades for the year after weighting each course with the its number of learning units, whether compulsory or optional.
  3. The student is considered to have achieved the learning units for a course from the academic year to which the student follows, or from the year preceding it, in one of the following two cases: If his grade in the course is not less than 60 or if his grade in the course is less than 60 and not less than 50 and his average in the academic year to which the course belongs was not less than 60, and student projects do not fall within this case.
  4. The student is considered promoted to the higher academic year if the number of learning units that he did not achieve in the courses of the year to which he is following does not exceed 15 units and he was successful in the year preceding it. The student keeps his grade in the course for which he did not achieve the learning units in the year of his advancement as long as he does not achieve a higher mark.
  5. The student is considered successful in the academic year if he achieves all the learning units for the courses of that year and for the courses of the previous year.
  6. The student is considered to have failed the academic year if he was neither successful in that year nor advanced to the higher year, and if his annual average was not less than 50%, and he did not benefit from the opportunity to take supplementary exams in accordance with other subjects of this system, HIAST Council may provide him with the opportunity to take supplementary exams in courses for which he has not achieved the learning units, if this would lead to his success or advancement.
  7. The student is obligated every academic year to repeat the courses for which he did not achieve the learning units in the previous academic year, and the student has the right, based on a written request from him, to keep the grade of the student’s work when he repeats those courses, provided that this grade is not less than 60% if promoted and 70% if he failed.
  8. If the number of learning units for the courses that a student must study in a semester is less than /20/ units, he may, based on the approval of the Educational Affairs Committee, follow a number of courses from the highest academic year, taking into account precedence, and provided that the total number of units in that semester does not exceed / 20/, and in order to achieve the learning units for any of these courses, his mark must not be less than 60.
  9. The student is considered a graduate after his success in the last academic year, and his graduation rate is calculated by taking the average of the grades of the courses for which he achieved the learning units in all years of the academic program after weighting each course with its corresponding number of learning units.
  10. The student is considered to have exhausted his chances of success if he fails twice in the same academic year or three times throughout the period of study. The HIAST Council may, in justified cases, provide the exhausted student with the opportunity to take supplementary exams if the number of learning units that he did not achieve in the year to which he is applying and in the preceding year does not exceed /18/ units, otherwise he will be dismissed from the institute.
  11. A student who fails in the first year of the institute will be expelled, and if his annual average is not less than 50%, HIAST Council may - after studying his situation - decide not to expel him, or provide him with the opportunity to take supplementary exams in courses for which he has not achieved the learning units.
  12. It is permissible, with the approval of the director of HIAST, to suspend a student’s registration for one semester or more based on a written request from him, so that the total periods of suspension of registration granted to the student do not exceed the period of one academic year throughout the period of his studies at the institute. These periods are not taken into account when calculating the chances of success available to him before considering him exhausted.
  13. HIAST Council may provide the opportunity to take supplementary exams in the year of graduation in courses whose number of learning units does not exceed 15 units if this would lead to the student’s graduation.
  14. The grade for the supplementary exams of the course, referred to in clauses (10) and (13) above, replaces the lower grade in the exam or the revision, or both, whichever is in the best interest of the student, and the grade for the course in this case is capped at 65.
  15.  The graduates are granted a bachelor’s degree in engineering according to their specializations, signed by the Director of the Institute, and the Minister of Higher Education.
  16. The student has the right to obtain a transcript signed by the director of HIAST, or his representative, showing the courses he studied and the grades he obtained. The graduate is given a certificate of graduation signed by the director of the institute or his representative.