Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman laid the foundation stone for a campus of women’s colleges in Al-Ula on Monday and announced government plans to establish a similar campus for men’s colleges.

The new campus for women, which will accommodate 7,000 students, will cost SR208 million.

The launching ceremony also witnessed the signing of agreements to establish a complex for women colleges in Yanbu at a cost of SR226 million.

Addressing the event, Taibah University President Adnan Al-Mazroue commended the remarkable progress achieved by the Kingdom in the education domain under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

“The government did not stop at building schools to provide general education, but constructed many universities and colleges across the country to provide higher education to its citizens,” the president said.

Salim Al-Balawi, chairman of the organizing committee, referred to the progress achieved by the Taibah University campus in Al-Ula, which began five years ago with the College of Arts and Science.

Prince Faisal later watched a documentary on the university’s history and progress.

Contracts have been signed with Al-Murshid Holding, Anwar Al-Khaleej and Babil Maintenance & Operation Co. to carry out the campus project, which will span an area of 9 million sqm.

The project includes college and administrative buildings, as well as housing for university staff.

“The campus is designed to become the headquarters of an independent university in Al-Ula,” said Al-Mazroue.

Academic facilities on the campus include the college of arts and human sciences, college of science, community college and college of applied medical sciences, the president said, adding that the project would be completed within 14 months.

Support facilities on the campus include a conference hall that can accommodate 600 people, a nursery, a restaurant, indoor stadium and a service center, in addition to a drinking water storage tank, workshops and a security building.“We have allocated part of the campus for accommodation. We will construct five buildings to house 900 students,” the president said.

Al-Mazroue said the campus intends to provide an ideal atmosphere to students that is conducive to learning and research. “This atmosphere will be created through advanced infrastructure, academic facilities and electronic services.”

“We want to make extensive use of electronic systems to speed up activities,” he said. He thanked Prince Faisal for his support to Taibah and described him as a man of strategic vision, enthusiasm and unlimited ambition.