Dr. Ahmed El-Minshawy, president of Assiut University and Commissioner for conducting the work of Assiut National University, participated on Tuesday, May 2025, in the meeting of the Council of Private Universities, which was chaired by Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of higher education and scientific research, at the ministry's headquarters in the new administrative capital, in the presence of Dr. Maher Mesbah, Secretary of the Council, Dr. Mustafa Refaat, Secretary of the Supreme Council of Universities, Dr. Abdul Wahab Ezzat, Secretary of the Council of National universities, and several university presidents, boards of trustees and ministry leaders.

Dr. Ahmed El-Minshawy praised the efforts of the Ministry of Higher Education and scientific research in supporting the expansion of the establishment of private universities, stressing that the announcement of the establishment of 12 new National universities embodies the state's vision to develop higher education and expand its opportunities in line with the needs of the labor market and the requirements of sustainable development, explaining that private universities offer modern interface programs and a developed educational environment that contribute to the preparation of cadres capable of innovation and competition.

During the meeting, Dr. Ayman Ashour announced the issuance of Republican decisions to establish 12 new National universities, namely: Suez National University, Damanhour National University, Cairo National University, Ain Shams National University, Sohag National University, Kafr El Sheikh National University, New Valley National University, Fayoum National university, Tanta National university, Luxor National university, Damietta National university and Sadat City National university.

Dr. Maher Mesbah pointed out that these universities offer modern study programs that keep pace with the labor market's requirements. They are considered fourth-generation non-profit universities, and revenues are reinvested in the development of their infrastructure, which contributes to improving the quality of education and qualifying graduates.

Dr. Adel Abdul Ghaffar, media advisor and official spokesman of the ministry, also stated that the new universities have met their material and human resources to start studying in the academic year 2025/2026, bringing the number of private universities to 32, and the total number of universities in Egypt to 128, up from only 50 universities in 2014, in a clear indication of the growing investments in the higher education sector.