Thousands of applicants for Colleges of Excellence

The Colleges of Excellence (CoE) continue to attract a large number of Saudi applicants for world-class courses in health care, business, IT and finance, hair and beauty parlor, fashion design and agriculture.
The subjects, which are free of charge for Saudi nationals and for children with Saudi mothers, were chosen by the government to create employment opportunities in various provinces to boost employment opportunities.
The latest CoE statistics show that as many as 160,980 students (girls and boys) have applied to its 37 colleges across the Kingdom. According to the organization, CoE plans to provide 100 colleges by 2020 to accommodate 450,000 students by 2020. Currently there are 11,498 enrolled pupils across the Kingdom.
As part of their effort to improve their educational offer, the Technical and Vocational Training Corp. (TVTC) last year inked a second phase of partnership agreements with CoE.
These colleges were established in 2013 to be the leading authority for applied training in the Kingdom, in cooperation with the best international practical training organizations, including the US, the UK, Canada and Spain.
According to TVTC, in addition to 37 CoE, there are 36 technical colleges and 18 general colleges for boys, 68 secondary industrial institutes for girls and 28 institutes for strategic partnerships with the private sector.
Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious program that will empower young Saudi men and women with world-class technical and vocational training, making them eligible for jobs needed by the Saudi employment market.
TVTC Gov. Ali Al-Ghafis stated last year that the ambitious plan seeks to facilitate the dramatic transition to a global village, coupled with the internationalization of business sectors. This is prompting Saudi Arabia to boost its competitiveness by building manpower skills required for various professions.