I agree in part with what he posted. The ma'had is sub-par, but you only have to spend a few months there and can start in the university if you place into the last year of high school after the entrance test. I'm starting in the university this year without ever having stepped foot into the ma'had, because I placed into the final year 2 months ago after classes were already over for the year, and I have my graduation exams now. As for the quality of education at the university level, it largely depends on which college you are in and on the teacher. The college of Dirasat Islamiyyah generally has smaller class sizes and a decent quality of instruction and the students seem to have a much better impression of it than those in the college of shari'ah, which has massive class sizes, and most of my friends enrolled there don't even attend class. The availability of quality teachers outside of the university in various fields is what really makes Egypt stand out above the rest, in my humble opinion. For example, there is a small institute in Cairo associated with al-'Ashirah al-Muhammadiyyah that has an amazing four year program consisting of around 18 subjects, each of which is taught by one of the best scholars in Egypt in the field, and the class sizes are much smaller and the quality of instruction is generally better than what would find in al-Azhar. Furthermore, places like the Azhar mosque and the Madhyafah have long-running lessons on ever subject you can think of, including fiqh/usul of all four madahib, nahw, sarf, balagah, adab, qira'at, hadith, etc. You have the opportunity to study advanced books, such as Mughni al-Labib, al-Majmu' Sharh al-Muhathab, Tafsir al-Baydawi, etc., that are covered in graduate level programs in other places with masters in the field. Some of my friends privately studied some of the Alfiyyah and al-Zamakhshari's tafsir with a blind Azhari scholar who was so strong in the Arabic sciences, that he would quote the text of ibn 'Aqil's sharh from memory. One cool thing about Egypt is that it is a nexus of scholars and students of knowledge from around the world. I personally have had the opportunity to study Hanafi fiqh/usul (still a beginner) and the Muwattah with a very competent shaykh who is a specialist in Hanafi fiqh and hadith who taught in a Darul Uloom in Bangladesh for several years. Some of my friends studied Sunan al-Tirmidhi with a Nadwi shaykh, and since the class consisted of only a few students, they were able to receive more one-to-one attention and cover the text in more depth than what one would receive in Dawrah Hadith at a large institution. Other students I know have been studying Maliki fiqh with a shaykh from Mali and a shaykh from Algeria, both of whom have memorized several texts and are highly proficient in the field. In short, there is a lot of benefit in Egypt, but a student should first become proficient in the Arabic language and prepare adequately for the Azhar entrance exams, in addition to taking advantage of the various opportunities to study with scholars outside the university. I would like to write a bit more about this after I'm done with my exams and have more time, inshallah.