It looks like an American college campus, except for those little things like – a sign by the gate that admonishes undergraduates to "Please Remind Your Maids That They Are Not Allowed Beyond the Entrance." Or the fact that although nearly everyone is wearing jeans, you'd never know it because most are covered by full-length abayas and dishdashas.

Welcome to Education City – Qatar's 2,500-acre answer to getting a top US education without giving up your mom's pampering, your maid's cooking, or your weekend camel races.

Taking globalization of higher education to new heights, five American universities, including Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown, have opened satellite campuses here in the past few years, employing some of the same professors as at their stateside campuses, demanding the same tuition, and – theoretically – providing the same education.

The aim, says Nawal Abdullah al-Shaikh, spokeswoman for the country's Supreme Education Council, is to create an environment of reform and progress without losing strong Islamic values.

"We need to invest in, better, and diversify our educational system, but we also need and want to remain a traditional society," she says.

James Reardon-Anderson, a former faculty chair at Georgetown University in Washington and dean of the school's program in Qatar, admits, "OK, they don't get the Washington experience ... and there is no basketball team. But otherwise, you are getting the real thing. This is a unique experiment in human history."

The experiment is still under construction. At this point, workmen outnumber students about 3 to 1.

Eventually it will have student housing, cafes, palm trees, more colleges (negotiations are under way with business and journalism schools), an $8 billion teaching hospital, and thousands of students from Qatar and beyond.

Already, some 500 students study here, approximately half of them Qataris.

"Education is a primary building block of any human," explains Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, the energetic, reform-minded second wife of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. As head of the Qatar Foundation, she is the main force behind Education City.

"I believe that encouraging critical thinking and processing of knowledge means you are creating a full, well-rounded human being. This sort of human will help and enable you to build up your society," says Ms. Missned.

Like other wealthy Gulf youngsters, many Qataris looking for a top-notch education have gone to the US and Europe. The current emir of Qatar graduated from Sandhurst Academy in Britain, as did both his father, the former emir.

But, for many Qataris – particularly women – in this family-oriented, traditional society, getting a US-style academic experience in a familiar cultural context has great appeal.

While women drive, work, and vote in this traditional Muslim society, most are not allowed to travel abroad by themselves – even to study.

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