Today, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran announced the opening of admission for the next academic year 2021/2022 for the bachelor’s degree for male and female students. It is the first time that the university opens its doors to accept female students for the bachelor’s degree.
His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of KFUPM, expressing his thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and to His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense - may God preserve them - for their support and promotion to the education sector in general, and universities in particular, that constantly pushes it to achieve outstanding achievements, and to take steps that contribute to developing the competencies and capabilities of the country’s sons and daughters, contributing to building a bright and promising future for their country.
His Highness stresses that the decision comes at a time when the Kingdom, the leadership and people, celebrates the fifth anniversary of the launch of the "Kingdom 2030", calling it an important step towards achieving a number of the vision's goals, which seek to empower Saudi woman, and supporting her full participation in the comprehensive renaissance that the Kingdom is witnessing in all fields, giving her the opportunity to gains knowledge and skills in all areas.
He added that the enrollment of females will provide them with the opportunity to benefit from a reputable national academic institution, with a prestigious international academic and applied level, and a distinguished ranking globally, especially in the fields of science and engineering.
His Highness indicated that the university aims in the coming year for female students to make up 20 percent of new students, based on the available capacity, and hopes to raise that number to 40 percent in the following year. After that, admission will continue based purely on “competence and ability.”
His Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman indicated that he is sure that these students will be a source of pride for the university, just like its graduates, who today number nearly 40,000.
KFUPM had indicated that the submission of applications for admission, for male and female students, will be during the period from 13 to 18 July 2021, and it will be in preference according to the percentage, which depends on the results of the abilities test, achievement test, and high school grades, confirming that the selection of the specialization will be part of the admission stage, and it will organize seminars and lectures to introduce the different specializations.
The university will provide early specialization programs by creating more than 34 new majors at the undergraduate level, focusing on the requirements of new technologies and the new economy, and providing specializations of strategic importance to the Kingdom, including drone technologies, electronic defense systems, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and others.
KFUPM also announced the launch of 32 new master’s degree programs in a range of subspecialties that “keep pace with the transformation of the national economy into a diversified, digital and knowledge-based economy, which included new specializations; Programs in artificial intelligence, cyber and blockchain security, robotics and autonomous systems, data science, quantum computing, computational analytics, materials science and engineering, petrochemical engineering, polymer science and engineering, catalysis, materials and computer modeling, wireless communication networks, sustainable and renewable energy, vital engineering and supply chain management.
