- Arizona State University partners with Pakistan to launch National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Lahore, classes begin Fall 2025.
- NIT to offer dual degrees, global exchange, and American curriculum while preserving local values; led by Shahzeb Awan and Jahanzeb Burana.
- PM Shehbaz Sharif hails the collaboration as a landmark step toward world-class education and youth empowerment in Pakistan.
In the first-ever joint venture, US-based educational organization, Arizona State University, has partnered with Pakistan to open a new National Institute of Technology (NIT). The campus of NIT will be in Lahore and there will be two primary schools for the university: the School of Management Sciences and the School of Data Sciences and Information Technology. The university will be starting classes in fall 2025.
This project is the first occasion that an American university is opening an on-ground presence in Pakistan. Here's everything you need to know about the proposed institution.
The project is led by two key individuals, Shahzeb Awan, a lawyer from the University of London, and Jahanzeb Burana, a Harvard MBA graduate in finance. The NIT partnership was formalized in April 2025 at the Arizona State University (ASU) campus in Tempe, US.
In ASU's words, the new university can be defined as, 'a student-focused university preparing Pakistani and global students to compete alongside the world's best by exposing them to a high-quality American curriculum and learning environment'. Both sides also acknowledge that NIT will continue to focus on preserving local values and cultural identity while providing world-class education and establishing strong industry linkages.
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The new institute will automatically open numerous gates of opportunity for students of Pakistan. For example, enrolled students will be able to opt for dual degree programmes so that they can get stimulus to acquire a degree from NIT as well as ASU. They will also be provided with the autonomy of deciding the proportion in which they want to finish their programme in Pakistan.
Students will also get to study abroad, not just in the US, but at different parts of the world. Apart from the strong presence of the university in Arizona, ASU also has academic centers in Washington D.C. and California. Outside the US, ASU-Cintana Alliance also opens the avenue for exchange programmes for students at more than 30 other international universities.During the prelude to the new partnership, Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, received the ASU representatives on July 24, and made his comments about the new partnership.
This agreement is a landmark. The NIT will be an institution of world standard which will prepare Pakistani youth to compete on an international level, he also underscored the promise of Pakistan towards higher education objectives saying, all government education policies are geared towards providing job opportunities for youth on the basis of their professional skills", he added.
