University options for ARAMCO kids in the region

As under frequently asked questions: If you're a new user, your posts must be moderated and approved before they appear on the forum. This is to prevent spam from appearing on the forum. Moderators remove sometimes dozes of spam posts every day through this method. It makes for a better user experience. If we didn't do this, the forum would be completely clogged with advertisements for medication and health enhancers within a few days. In effect, the forum would be unusable.

Aramco does not pay any college tuition or fees. They do pay for 2 round trip tickets at the end of each semester for the student to come home X8 trips (4 years).

I know of a friend who sends his daughter for medical school in Bahrain. It's been done before but again, I am not sure about the quality of education etc. It's a difficult choice, just like the one that has to be made when the kids starts 10th grade.

From a social, aesthetic, language and driving perspective, I wouldn't want my child to have a split college experience starting in KSA. I would send him/her to the US or elsewhere for the whole thing, live near family if that's a concern. Driving here is a fright, and then there's the aspect of trying to make friends, fit in, social life is divided for males and females. I wouldn't ask my kid to have that kind of college experience when compared to what s/he expects of college, based on US schools.

BTW, backing it up a step...Don't underestimate the influence of the Aramco teachers and students on western 9th graders and families when it comes to the issue of whether to send kids out of Kingdom for 10-12th grades (plus presumably, university). While many families do send their kids to high school locally, there is a huge pressure on kids and families to assume the nest will be emptied here at a younger age, well before traditional university age.

For our family, the issue of boarding school differs among our kids, depending on his/her wishes and maturity (as is the case for many families). For university, however, for our family it will be OOK for sure, no matter how much I'd rather keep the nest populated.

Thank you, Hadia & Soverydeb

Hi Texas, Thanks for the info. Yes, I have been checking Universities in UAE. One University that keeps popping up on my google search is King Fahd Univ of Petroleum & Minerals. Its about 15 mins from ARAMCO camp in Dhahran. It has a good reputation. I wonder if any one sends their kids to this one.

That's what I thought, Grovewanderer. But this is what it says on its website,
"He must be a Saudi citizen, or a residence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia having valid Iqama" AND
"He should have earned the secondary school certificate, or its equivalent from inside or outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" Anybody who knows otherwise? I appreciate the info. Thanks.

Perhaps you could get some direct info by visiting this forum, for people who are new to KFUPM:

www.ikfupm.com/forum/forumdispla ... w-to-KFUPM

Some of the previous posts may give you a sense of things from the students' perspective.

You could post some questions there, or maybe get a referral to another site, or find expat students willing to help answer your questions.