King approves Fahd bin Sultan University

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved the establishment of Fahd bin Sultan University (FBSU) in Tabuk, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari announced on Saturday. "Our ministry had received a request from the board of trustees of Prince Fahd bin Sultan colleges to transform the colleges into a university," he said, adding that the university has fulfilled the requirements. FBSU has colleges for engineering, computer science and business administration, the minister said. Tabuk Gov. Prince Fahd bin Sultan thanked King Abdullah for the gesture. "Ever since its beginning the university has been focusing on quality education and specializations required by the job market," he said. The university provides scholarships to orphans and special need students and children of patients suffering from renal failure in addition to students who have shown outstanding academic performance. The governor also thanked Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, for his support and care. Prince Sultan laid the university's foundation stone in October 2008. He said he wants to make FBSU an outstanding Saudi university having international academic standards. The university is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Prince Fahd. It receives technical support from the American University of Beirut in designing curricula, selection of faculty, and the development of the university bylaws. "The university has derived its curricula from where others stopped, thus its educational programs have been designed in a way to meet the requirements of the local markets," one official said.