The higher education system of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been greatly impacted by the country’s adoption of policies and learning frameworks developed in other countries. This chapter first introduces the UAE’s background and explores the specific context of its higher education sector. Thereafter the chapter defines policy transfer and relevant terms and identifies the unique role of the knowledge economy in defining higher education in the UAE. It provides an overview of the historical development of UAE's higher education sector, including federally funded and non-federal HEIs. The chapter examines how the UAE has selectively adopted policies from other countries, such as the US and the UK, and how this has changed over time. In particular, the chapter focuses on the shift towards a “knowledge economy” approach to policy transfer since 2005. It then analyzes the manifestation of policy transfer in the UAE's higher education sector, including the rise of the American university model, the impact of global rankings and homogenization, and the role of foreign education, English language, curricula, and academics. Finally, the chapter examines the strengths and weaknesses of the policy transfer process and its impact on the quality and relevance of higher education in the UAE. Overall, this chapter contributes to our understanding of policy transfer in the higher education sector and provides insights into the successes and challenges of adopting foreign policies in one specific national context.