JEDDAH, 30 March 2006 — Riyadh Governor Prince Salman yesterday launched the Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd University in Alkhobar, which is designed to become a world-class institution of higher learning.

“This is a great work as it aims at promoting education of our young men and women in modern science and technology,” Prince Salman said at the launching ceremony.

He commended Eastern Province Governor Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd for taking the initiative to establish the university. He noted Eastern Province’s great role in the history and development of Saudi Arabia. “This is a region of goodness,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.

Prince Muhammad thanked the Riyadh governor for laying the foundation stone of the varsity. He hoped the new university would play a big role in building future leaders in different areas of knowledge and its applications.

Prince Turki ibn Muhammad, deputy chairman of the university’s board of trustees and chairman of the Educational Services Company (Taaleem), said the university would cost SR300 million.

The university is named after Eastern Province Governor Prince Muhammad, who has donated two plots of land with a total area of 500,000 square meters for the institution as well as the cost of building an engineering college.

“We have taken the help of the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC), a coalition of 32 American universities, to operate our university for the next two academic years,” Prince Turki said. He revealed plans to establish the university’s branches in the Kingdom’s different regions.

The university, which is scheduled to begin studies in September this year, plans to accommodate 5,500 students within the next five years. It will have three colleges for boys: The College of Engineering, the College of Administrative Sciences and the College of Information Technology. There will be two colleges for girls: The College of Administrative Sciences and the College of Information Technology.

Prince Turki said the university would establish partnerships with well-known international universities. A student has to pay fees of SR54,000 annually, and Dr. Eissa Al-Ansari, the president, said the fee was reasonable compared to other private universities in the region. The university will provide scholarships for 10 outstanding students, including girls, and those unable to meet expenses.

The university will have 17 academic programs and the medium of instruction will be English. “In the beginning we will focus on studies, not on scientific research and social service. After the first five years, the academic programs will be fine-tuned in accordance with market needs,” the president said.

He said the university would give priority to Saudi teachers with doctorates. “We will have teachers who use both traditional and modern methods,” he said, adding that faculty members would be selected from Western, Arab and Islamic countries.

Al-Ansari said all university buildings would be ready by the middle of 2008. Housing facilities will be completed before the beginning of studies, he added. The university will offer 40 administrative jobs and at least 30 teaching jobs in the first year.