The Ministry of Higher Education was established in 1395H (1975G) to be responsible for supervising, planning and coordinating the Kingdom’s requirements with regards to the higher education, with the aim to prepare national cadre specialized in administrative and scientific fields, to help achieve the national development.

The higher education has, enthusiastically, developed in most of the scientific fields. There are, now, 19 high-capacity universities, geographically distributed in the Kingdom regions. All these universities are linked to the Ministry of Higher Education, but enjoy a high level of independency in both administrative and academic scopes.

The Ministry also gives special care to the affairs of the Saudi students who are studying abroad, distributed in different countries and scientific fields that are necessary to fulfill the requirements.

Regarding the scientific research, the Ministry, thru supervision and coordination with the universities, gives very special care to the scientific research, which is an important source for the scientific and civic development, and as it is part of the functions and tasks of universities. The Ministry supports specialized research institutes and centers, and conducts scientific symposiums and conferences, which enables the academic staff of the universities to participate in specialized scientific activities, and learn about the updates in their fields.