Morocco is drawing a new map of higher education. Higher Education Minister Azzedine El Midaoui announced Tuesday that the first phase of the country's ambitious university reform will create 26 new institutions, fundamentally reshaping access to tertiary learning across the nation's vast territory. The announcement marks a turning point in Morocco's effort to relieve crushing pressure on its university system while ensuring that students in distant regions no longer have to abandon their communities to pursue a degree.
The scale of the challenge is visible in a single institution: Ibn Zohr University, one of Morocco's largest public universities, currently stretches across nearly 55% of the country's territory while serving approximately 170,000 students. That geographic sprawl and density are precisely what the reform aims to fix. Under the proposed restructuring, Ibn Zohr would be divided into five separate universities, with new campuses established in Dakhla, Laayoune, and Guelmim, alongside two institutions in Ait Melloul and Agadir. This decentralization strategy reflects Morocco's broader vision: bringing world-class higher education within reach of every region, not just urban centers.
The 26 institutions announced in phase one are currently in final stages of approval, with university councils already convening to propose the restructuring and distribution of these new foundations. But this is only the beginning. A second phase is expected to add 23 more institutions, signaling Morocco's commitment to a systematic, nationwide overhaul grounded in Framework Law 51.17 and the higher education law itself. The reform directly responds to two interconnected crises: overcrowding in existing universities and stark regional inequality in educational opportunity.
What makes this reform distinctive is that it does not aim to strip down existing institutions in the name of expansion. Instead, El Midaoui emphasized that the first phase will reduce overcrowding while preserving the academic structures students depend on. Future stages will introduce what he called a "new generation" of universities explicitly designed to meet local, regional, and national labor market demands, as well as emerging international professions. This forward-looking approach suggests that Morocco is not merely building more campuses—it is building them with purpose, attuned to the jobs and skills its economy will need.
The reform extends beyond bricks and mortar. The ministry is packaging the university expansion alongside comprehensive social support programs that address the barriers preventing qualified students from attending: housing, transportation, catering, and financing. These measures reflect an understanding that access to higher education is not simply a matter of opening a door; it requires removing the economic obstacles that keep talented students at home.
Morocco's restructuring effort sits within a larger vision of territorial equity and scientific innovation. By distributing universities across regions, the country aims to anchor research and academic excellence beyond the capital, strengthen ties between universities and regional economies, and position itself to compete in emerging fields that will shape the twenty-first-century workforce. For students in Dakhla, Laayoune, and smaller cities, the new map signals that higher education is not a privilege reserved for those who can afford to migrate. It is becoming a right rooted in place, geography, and local aspiration.