King Saud University (KSU) is a public university in Riyadh that admits non-Saudi students onto scholarship places through its Deanship of Admission and Registration Affairs. Places run at three levels: Arabic-language diploma and higher diploma, bachelor’s degrees across the university’s colleges, and master’s or doctoral study.
There are two routes. External scholarships are for applicants living outside Saudi Arabia, who apply through the Ministry of Education’s Study in Saudi portal and name KSU. Internal scholarships are for non-Saudi students already resident in the Kingdom, who apply through the university’s scholarship portal for residents.
Scholarship places are separate from the fee-paying programs KSU also offers non-Saudi students. The university’s International Students Deanship reported 3,947 international students from 99 nationalities in 2025.
Benefits & funding
- Monthly allowance for undergraduate scholarship students: SAR 1,000 in scientific fields, SAR 850 in theoretical fields.
- Monthly allowance for graduate scholarship students: SAR 900.
- A two-month allowance on arrival as a settling-in grant, and a three-month allowance on graduation towards shipping books home.
- University housing for external scholarship students, with temporary accommodation on arrival until a permanent room is assigned.
- A medical screening and hospital file at the university hospital, then continuing health-care support during enrolment.
- Discounted meals throughout the study period, plus airport pick-up, orientation, academic mentoring and an emergency fund run by a university charity.
Eligibility
- Open to non-Saudi applicants: external scholarships for applicants outside the Kingdom, internal scholarships for non-Saudi residents holding a valid residence permit.
- Applicants must be aged 17 to 25; the external-scholarship rules repeat that the age may not exceed 25.
- A secondary-school certificate, or an equivalent recognised for the intended program, obtained within the past five years.
- A secondary-school average of “very good” or higher.
- External-scholarship applicants need an SAT score of at least 1010.
- Internal applicants also submit National Center for Assessment (Qiyas) General Aptitude and Achievement scores, need a weighted score of at least 95 for the distinguished programs, and must not already hold a bachelor’s degree.
- Applicants must be medically fit, must not currently hold another scholarship from a Saudi educational institution, must not currently be enrolled at another university inside or outside Saudi Arabia, and must not have been dismissed from KSU or another academic institution for disciplinary or academic reasons.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Education required
High School · Bachelor · Master
Age requirement
17–25 yrs
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Application process
- 1Choose the route: external if you are outside Saudi Arabia, internal if you already hold Saudi residency.
- 2External applicants register on the Ministry of Education’s Study in Saudi portal and select King Saud University.
- 3Internal applicants register on the university’s electronic scholarship portal for non-Saudi residents.
- 4Upload the secondary-school certificate, SAT result, identity and residency documents, and any approval your home government requires.
- 5Track the file in the portal, then complete the medical examination and registration at KSU after acceptance.
Program timeline
Annual cycle
KSU publishes the admission schedule for external scholarships on the Study in Saudi portal each year.
After submission
the university reviews the file, and accepted students complete the medical examination and registration at KSU.