One of the world’s largest scholarship schemes is a modest description of the King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP) for Saudi Arabians to complete their higher education overseas. Costing some US$5 billion and counting, it was founded in 2005 to help Saudi rebuild relations with the West after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as prepare for the looming challenges facing its economy.
These include declining oil reserves, a rapidly growing, youthful population and lagging education standards. Saudi Arabia ranked just 93rd out of 129 countries in UNESCO’S 2008 quality of education index.
The scheme has also made a huge impact on the international education landscape, funding 90% of all Saudis studying abroad (about 130,000 in 2010-11) and bolstering diversity and income at state and private sector education institutions in 22 countries.
One of the biggest surprises of this year’s Open Doors report from the Institute of International Education (IIE), USA, was that major markets Korea and India played no role in the 6% rise in enrolments to US universities in 2012. Growth came from another surge in Chinese students and a less expected leap in Saudi numbers, which climbed from 22,700 to 34,100 – some 50%.
“Saudi enrolments in the US fell to 1,008 in 2004 costing up to $40 million in revenue”
“The scheme has been established and tailored to suit Saudi society needs as far as labour, employment and infrastructure needs are concerned,” Marie Claude Svaldi, assistant director of the ESL portion of the programme at the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM) explains. She flags subjects such as business, medicine IT and engineering that are typically studied by KASP recipients. “The social and economic demands continue to dictate the numbers of graduates necessary in every given major and degree.”
As well as funding for a three-year degree, students are also generously covered for English language training and health insurance – all of which is welcome news for Western universities, which saw Saudi enrolments collapse after the 9/11 attacks.
The US, Saudis’ destination of choice, felt this most keenly with enrolments falling to 1,008 in 2004, at a cost of up to $40 million. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were Saudi and some still allege Saudi government involvement in the attacks, further emphasising the need for the scheme as a bridge-building tool.
With that tide turned, some now envisage a “continued stream” of enrolments through to 2020 – KASP’s new extension date – with the sector research agency World Education Services (WES) identifying Saudi as the most important “emerging” student market for US universities in a recent report.
Others, however, warn that the scheme’s benefits are limited to a minority of universities—and that these institutions could become too reliant upon it, given so few Saudis fund their studies themselves.
The state of Florida had to stop enrolling Saudis and the UK is now said to be saturated
It is true that access to KASP is fairly narrow. Only universities in the world top 500 and language and pathway providers approved by SACM, which administers the programme, are eligible to take part. Some say this has led to an “over-concentration” of students in certain countries and campuses. The state of Florida reportedly had to stop enrolling Saudis due to overload, and the UK is now said to be “saturated”, particularly at Russell Group universities.
“Going forward the Cultural Attaché in London is likely to start paying a closer attention to where their students are going,” says Tuukka Hinttula, recruitment director for Middle East, Africa and South Asia at INTO University Partnerships, which welcomes KASP students to its US and UK university centres and pathways every year.
“For a while now the Cultural Attaché in the UK has been administering fewer number of students compared to a couple of years ago, but my understanding is that the number of students sponsored to the UK is about go up again.”
The high proportion of Saudis in need of preliminary language tuition (some 29% in the US according to IIE, more than any other national group) also restricts which universities can participate in KASP. There is a natural bias toward universities with English pathways, or Intensive English Programs in the US, leaving those without in the cold. [More>>]
SACM and foreign schools thus have to coordinate their activities closely – something that doesn’t always happen. WES has warned that the process of engaging with KASP can be complex, “mandating that US institutions stay abreast of changing policies that sponsoring agencies institute”. Hinttula agrees universities have had to “adapt”.
“Saudi Arabian cultural offices wish to receive regular reports and be invoiced in a certain way… and not all public institutions are always quick at responding to some of these business needs, and often these needs are not communicated in the clearest possible way,” he says.
Svaldi acknowledges there have been problems and hopes that a newly established “student portal system” will improve coordination between students, universities and Cultural Mission staff. She also says SACM is increasing the number of visits to foreign universities.
Recent advice from SACM has also asked institutions to accept student bookings directly or via SACM, rather than those that come via an agency (which often can mean a referral/commission payment is due).
As well as adjusting to specific processing (and payment) expectations, education providers have had to culturally adapt their education practices and policies, and manage heightened expectations as regards adequate housing or host family accommodation. KASPers can also underestimate the academic standards expected of them, say some.
“Saudis want to be invoiced in a certain way… often these needs are not communicated in the clearest possible way”
Hinttula touches on unique gender issues which KASP students have brought with them: “If for example a young, female English teacher from the UK or US is not familiar with students from Saudi Arabia, she may be wondering why some of the male students might initially be avoiding eye contact with her? Is that a cultural or performance related issue?” he says, pointing out that some of his US staff needed further guidance when KASP students started arriving in large numbers.
Mike Henniger, associate director of international marketing at Thompson Rivers University in BC, Canada, which has about 400 KASPers, says adjustment has been less of a struggle. “It was mostly getting that Arabic speaker on staff. We also… trained our staff to deal with [cultural issues]. We are very proactive.”
The reward, he says, has been an “incredible” cultural impact on campus—a benefit recognised by all those who talked to The PIE News. Lauren Cullen, Admissions Officer at Saint Mary’s University in NS, Canada, says Saudis do tend to group together but are happy to step outside their comfort zone, trying their hand at skating or ice-hockey for example.
Educators also take satisfaction at how KASP is modernising Saudi society by eroding cultural barriers, religious extremism and gender inequality. Some 73% of the eighth phase of the programme (which consists of around 9,000 students) are female, although all will need the permission of a male relative to travel abroad.
One alumnus of Saint Mary’s returned to Saudi Arabia and set up an e-portal career gateway for women
Cullen points to one recent alumnus of Saint Mary’s who returned to Saudi Arabia and set up an e-portal career gateway for women, glowork.
In another example, Khalid Al-Khudair won the university’s Young Alumni Award in 2010 (he may not have studied under auspices of KASP) for initiating an award-winning recycling program while working at KPMG in Saudi Arabia, which he says was inspired by his experience at Saint Mary’s. The programme, in which money earned from recycling went to local charities, was so successful that similar projects were implemented throughout the Kingdom.
Dr Joanna Newman, director of the UK Higher Education International Unit (part of Universities UK) highlights the social and cultural ramifications. “There are benefits to UK higher education from the King Abdullah scheme beyond the financial – there is particular emphasis on female education”, she says.
She signals the recent establishment of the first women’s university in Saudi Arabia, Princess Noura University, which the Unit, as part of its involvement in the UK-Saudi taskforce, is supporting via professional development.
“There are benefits to UK higher education beyond the financial – there is particular emphasis on female education”
Yet questions remain over what happens to KASP after 2020 and how safe it is to rely on this market. Citigroup predicts the country will cease to be an oil exporter by 2030, and the future of the global economy is still uncertain. With this in mind, for how long will Saudi be able to afford KASP at current costs? (It has spent at least $5 billion on the programme since 2005, according to the Wall Street Journal).
On this, WES says universities should not forget the small but growing market of self-funded Saudis (around 13% fall into this category by some counts). It disagrees that a recruitment bubble is developing that will one day burst. It claims that while US universities are already too dependent on China, India and Korea, KASP is still playing a vital role in stimulating Saudi mobility – and this may yield more self-funders down the line.
“The King Abdullah scholarship is not just the lubricant for mobility of Saudi students but the engine propelling it,” says director of research and advisory services, Dr Rahul Choudaha. “As economies become more globalised and knowledge-based, even an oil rich country like Saudi cannot remain immune to the importance of international higher education and its impact on individuals, societies and government.”
• Additional reporting by Nicholas Cullen.
