Saudi Arabia is among the countries with a large number of women’s colleges — 102 in all. In addition there are colleges and university branches that are part of the Ministry of Education. In 2002, the Presidency of Girls’ Education and Boys’ Education Department were combined. Last year, Crown Prince Abdullah issued a royal decree that all girls’ colleges should become universities. This was seen as a step forward for Saudi women insofar as ending differences between colleges and universities.
Despite this, some say that the quantity of education is not equal to the quality because the majority of colleges, especially the ones in small cities, are closer to being schools than universities. Furthermore, most establishments cater to training and educating women to become teachers. These establishments lack the technical facilities, modern labs and specialized research centers for academic and university fields available in other universities.
There is another problem that has surfaced lately. Some graduates from some colleges have found that their degrees and qualifications are not acceptable. This implies the lack of confidence by the Ministry of Education in the level of performance and quality of these students. It also negatively affects students who have paid SR25,000 to get an English language diploma.
As for private colleges, two girls’ colleges opened in 1998, Effat College and Dar Al-Hekma in Jeddah. Effat has two sections — one for training teachers and another for computer sciences. The college grants a BA in the following specializations: Computer science, information systems, early education, educational psychology and language and translation. Dar Al-Hekma with about 500 students offers courses in nursing, information system administration, special education, graphic design and interior design. In addition to these two, there is a women’s branch of Ibn Sina College for Medical Sciences which opened this year.