Effat University is a leading independent private, non-profit higher educational institution located in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The University operates under the umbrella of King Faisal Charitable Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization.

Effat University aims to develop knowledge, truth, and enlightenment, as well as educate tomorrow’s leaders to an international standard by providing an interdisciplinary environment conducive to research and life-long learning.

Effat University began its journey as a College in 1999 to provide quality education to women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, following the legacy of its founder, Queen Effat Al-Thunayan, the late wife of King Faisal Bin Abdel-Aziz (God rest their souls). In 2009, it achieved the status of a University with four colleges, 13 undergraduate programs, and three graduate programs with general education program built on the philosophy of liberal arts education

Effat University is fully accredited by its national accreditor since 2010, the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA)- and has launched the process of international accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) and has presented its eligibility report in September 2017.

The education offered at Effat University is characterized by intellectual openness and respect for varied opinions and points of view, in the spirit of academic discovery and advancement of knowledge.

Effat University has active academic partnerships with several well-established international institutions and professional entities, which are mostly American like Duke University which helped in establishing the Electrical and Computer Engineering Program and Georgetown University which helped in founding the 5 programs under the Effat College of Business. The University has established other collaborative partnerships with Bocconi University, Western Sydney University, Tokai University, Miami University, and Boston University.

There is at least one major academic partnership for each academic program at Effat University and all are active. The partnering institutions support Effat University in developing and reviewing all its programs in different capacities. Effat University is also visited by a delegation from each of its academic partners at least once a year to discuss academic issues and recommend improvement plans which are documented and followed up annually.

In terms of affiliations, Effat University is also affiliated with numerous American educational and cultural institutions including GLAA, NASPAA, NAFSA, CHEA-CIQG, IEEE, AAC&U, EAIE, IAUP, ACSA, ACE, UNAI, AMICAL, and WEW.

Undergraduate programs are generally 4 -5 years in length, are predominantly American-style in structure and English is the medium of instruction at Effat University.

All Effat University programs require courses in liberal arts (known as General Education Program), in addition to courses in at least one specialization or major.

Apart from being developed and reviewed by international partners, mostly American institutions, all program curricula were benchmarked with curricula implemented at US institutions as part of each program’s development or review process, and have been found to be highly similar to American programs in structure and content. Most programs have also been developed in alignment with US-based accrediting bodies such as ABET (i.e. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science programs), NAAB (Architecture), and AACSB (5 programs of the Effat College of Business). All courses mostly use American textbooks. Classrooms, labs and other facilities are developed taking into consideration similar labs in American educational institutions.

Effat University also offers 4 graduate programs: Master of Science in Translation and Interpreting, Master of Science in Finance, Master of Science in Energy Engineering, and Master of Science in Urban Design.

–        Smart Buildings Research Center (SBRC)

–        Virtual Reality Research Center (VRRC)

–        E-Arabization Research Center (E-ARC)

–        Business Innovation & Entrepreneurship Research Center (BIERC)

In addition to its mission and vision statements, the university has developed a set of core values based on the word IQRA (“READ”), which is the first word of the Quran (Muslims’ Holy Book):

– I – Ibhath : undertaking life-long research

– Q – Qiyam : ethical values

– R – Riyada : responsible and creative leadership

– A – At-tawasul : effective communication and reaching out to others

These values, which are adopted by Effat University, are closely aligned to the American-style view of education and the philosophy of liberal arts education, form the basis of the characteristics that Effat seeks to develop in its students/graduates.