RIYADH: Students looking for an American higher education in Riyadh can now apply for a place at the first accredited US university in the Kingdom.
At 106 years old, the University of New Haven is officially the first American university to receive a foreign branch campus license from the Ministry of Education, bringing more than a century of academic experience to Riyadh.
Located within Misk City, the university’s College of Business and Digital Innovation is a mixed-gender private institution marking intuition’s first phase of opening.
NHU Riyadh aims to welcome the first cohort of about 500 undergraduate and graduate students by the fall semester.
Arab News spoke exclusively with the university’s president, Jens Frederiksen, about the groundbreaking milestone.
President of the University of New Haven, Jens Frederiksen. (Supplied)
“There is something very special happening. And I think that enthusiasm amongst young Saudis is going to translate into students,” he told Arab News. “There is an extraordinary population of young Saudis that are incredibly ambitious.
Originally from Denmark, Frederiksen was named the seventh president in 2024 and the university already has a satellite presence in Italy.
He sees the Kingdom as “a hub of international talent,” and is eager to offer a local solution to Saudis keen on an American education in their homeland.
“We are independent of geopolitical forces,” he emphasized. “I would say, we are looking at a global world where the interchange and the dynamics of a global labor force will be imperative to student success going forward.”
He is now gearing up for his 10th visit to the capital to inaugurate the college.
“Traditionally, we know that that a lot of Saudis have gone to the US (for university), obviously, that has changed to some degree,” Frederiksen said.
“I think with what I’ve experienced on the ground in terms of the excitement, I think I would say that the lion’s share of students would be Saudi students starting out.
“And those would be students who have had sort of a desire to have an American-style education experience that they feel gives them a competitive edge, in terms of the workforce that they enter into and the areas in which the US has traditionally led the way on education.”
Faculty members from the main US campus and some from the region will make up the staff, he said.
The bachelor of science will offer degrees in: artificial intelligence in business and analytics, business management — entrepreneurship and innovation, marketing, sport management and e-sport and digital game management.
The university will also offer a master of science in AI in business and analytics and a master of business administration in strategic leadership.
Founded in 1920, the University of New Haven in Connecticut has become a top-tier US institute, with a near 50-50 male to female ratio.
The university says its Riyadh campus will bring the same quality of education to Saudi Arabia, with degree programs designed to meet the needs of the Kingdom’s growing economy.
Leo Lester, senior vice president of the international branch campus in Riyadh shared the enthusiasm.
Leo Lester, senior vice president of the international branch campus in Riyadh. (Supplied)
“I am most excited to see the building up and students in the classrooms,” he told Arab News.
“I think our university is going to be a big change. It’s going to be not like any other university in Saudi Arabia. We’re not designing it around a big campus, like a King Saud or Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.”
Lester first moved to Saudi Arabia in 2013 as a research fellow at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, where he led multidisciplinary research teams looking at energy governance in the region.
He and Frederiksen recognize that all sorts of things may stand in the way of Saudis going to America to study, such as visa hurdles or financial burden — as the scholarship system has been restructured — or simply being away from family.
“I think we are going to provide an interesting alternative. For a lot of people, maybe you can live at home and just come to us,” Lester said.
The university aims to proactively try to create future opportunities for Saudi students by talking to companies about internships, about sponsorship systems, as well as scholarships, and research projects.
“How can we embed Saudi Arabia in our university? How can we connect with the ecosystem and bring Saudi Arabia inside our curriculum? That’s really what we are trying to do,” Lester concluded.
The Riyadh campus will be built around three colleges, starting with Business and Digital Innovation, then Arts and Applied Sciences, and Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing.
