King Saud University

King Saud University is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, founded in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz as Riyadh University, as the first university in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The university was created to meet the shortage of skilled workers in Saudi Arabia. It was renamed King Saud University in 1982.The student body of KSU today consists of about 65,000 students of both sexes. The female students have their own disciplinary panel, and there is a center supervising the progress of female students, either personally by female faculty members or by male faculty members via a closed television network. The university offers courses in the natural sciences, the humanities, and professional studies, for which it charges no tuition. The medium of instruction in undergraduate programs is English and Arabic depending on the chosen major. Among Arab universities, its medical programs are highly regarded.HistoryEstablishing Saudi Arabia's first university was a response to the educational and professional needs of a young nation. King Abdulaziz became king in 1932, and began laying the foundations for modernizing his country and establishing an educational system. In 1953 King Saud, the eldest son of Abdulaziz, acceded to the throne upon his father's death, and instituted the Council of Ministers and the Ministry Education.Prince Fahd, who eventually became the Saudi King, was the first minister of education. Following the first session of the Council of Ministers, he announced that the first Saudi University would be established as a house of culture and sciences. Prince Fahd said that he was committed to promoting higher education.