Saudi Arabia is evolving from a market-driven by scholarships to one shaped by increasing demand among self-funded students. Even with that change, many proven strategies for recruiting in the Kingdom remain real today as the outlook is getting stronger for Saudi outbound in 2022 and 2023.

The total number of Saudi Arabian students abroad has decreased from a high point in 2016, at which time there were more than 100,000 children enrolled outside of the nation. Leaving aside the current effects of the COVID, that decrease is directly tied to the winding down of the landmark King Abdullah Scholarship Programme, also called KASP. On top of it, the King Abdullah Scholarship Programme sends thousands of children to the US, and possible numbers to Canada, the United Kingdom, and other top locations.

More info about the programme:

The programme has now been replaced with minor, more targeted scholarships for Saudi Students. Still, the Market continues to display its power in the post-KASP era and appears poised in addition to a strong recovery from the challenges of the pandemic. In 2019, there were still approximately 70,000 Saudi Students abroad, buoyed in part by a few continuing scholarship support from the government and an increasing cohort of self-funded students.

Saudi Arabia was always a sponsored market, said Ayman Abdelhafez, a managing director of Saudi Agency Sindbad. The government provides large scholarships to students and builds a good interest in studying abroad. Now, even after the government has limited those scholarships, many students still want to go abroad for their degrees.

The tradition of studying abroad is further motivated by the nation's huge and youthful population and by income levels that can certainly support an increasing number of self-funded students abroad. Within a population of about 35 million, there are more than 5 million 15 to 20 years old, many of whom are preparing for higher education.

About Multiple Scholarships:

Speaking at the hybrid ICEF Dubai event this week, Ayman Abdelhafez showcased how the KASP program has given way to a lot of smaller scholarships for Saudi Students.

The KASP program was a dominant scholarship program in the Gulf region and globally. It was a very generous program, permitting students to study in language programs or any other foundation studies needed in addition to their degrees.

He included that in the late-2010s, the Saudi Arabia government started looking for various directions for its scholarship programs and, in the process, built a much more powerful connection between the kind of scholarship support students were getting and the careers they would pursue after their studies in Saudi Arabia.

This led to many targeted scholarships in special professional fields, including, for instance, health sciences and a wider program known as the Path of Excellence Scholarships. POE scholarship support is accessible to top Saudi Arabia students only and those who can demonstrate their readiness to start academic education abroad without any further language or foundation study.

The top locations for scholarship students remain the leading English-speaking locations like the US, Canada, Austria, UK, but students are also funded for education from elsewhere, including Europe in locations like France or Germany.

The necessity of Ministry Approval:

This has been real in Saudi Arabia for a few days, but institutions hoping to get Saudi Students must seek that they, and their particular degree programs, are on the record of approved study choices for the Saudi Ministry of Education.

These records are administered through the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, and the SACM is always the first stage for any institutions or schools that have a will to get added to the approved list.

Getting on that approved list could be difficult to get both scholarships and self-funded students. Self-funded students cannot get education and recognition for their degree until the university is on the approved list, said Ayman Abdelhafez. And the importance of this comes in turn from a wider pattern for Saudi Students, in that the majority will complete their degree abroad and then will come back to the Kingdom afterward.

An increasing cohort:

In the future, an increasing pool of self-funded students can be expected to drive outbound increases over the long term. We need to see the Market distinctly, said Ayman Abdelhafez. Let's target the self-funded students. This could be the true Market right now in Saudi Arabia and the most stable Market. It is not the Market that gets altered by the government's decision.

Mansour Al Mudaifer, the manager of the education agency Pro Student, increased on that forecast in a separate session at ICEF Dubai.

We are seeing 2022 to be the comeback of the business year. We have accepted to live with COVID-19 and wish it not to influence the travel industry as it did in 2020 as a large portion of the population is fully vaccinated.

He added that students are still keen to study abroad and are optimistic for the opportunities we have on the table for them. We wish outbound numbers to come back to normal, if not more, within the next two years.

Conclusion:

The idea of studying abroad is not an out of box idea for Saudi Arabia. After World War II, many students boarded propeller-powered planes for the long flight to the United States from what was still mainly a nomadic society. Still, Saudi Arabia culture invites an eye-opening study abroad education. It could be home to various world-famous sites like Madain Saleh, etc. The importance of diversification for a company's portfolio, marking new partnerships in China, Poland, Hungary, etc. The SACM site for study abroad education is an important source. This drive of study abroad is also making a more discriminating Saudi Student, one that is seeing more closely at the quality and reputation of abroad institutions. Still, Saudi students' scope to study abroad is taking a new shape.