TABUK, 27 September — Northern Saudi Arabia will soon have its first university. Tabuk Governor Prince Fahd ibn Sultan said work on a private university in the city would start within two months.
"Some of our brothers within and outside Tabuk have been working to establish a private university in the city with our support for quite some time," the governor said, adding that the university would open in two years.
The university would be launched with a college for computer science and information systems, the governor said. It will have colleges for medicine, dentistry, medical services and engineering at a later stage.
"We have allocated a plot for the university in an ideal location in coordination with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs," the prince said.
He said the university would collaborate with one of the famous international universities.
"We are now making contacts with European and American universities to select the institution with which to establish cooperation in academic matters," he said..
"We want to establish a university with high standards so that its graduates would be able to join foreign universities for higher studies," the governor said.
The university, to be named Prince Fahd ibn Sultan Private University, is expected to promote higher education in the Kingdom’s northern region.
There are now four government colleges in the region. They are: College of Teachers, College of Technology, College of Community and College of Education for Girls.
The plan to establish a new university comes as part of the government’s drive to promote higher education in the Kingdom to train the national cadre to meet the country’s labor market requirements.
Efforts were under way to establish another private university for science and technology in the western summer resort Taif.
