Qassim University is a public university with its main campus in Buraidah, in Saudi Arabia’s Qassim region. It opened in 2004 when colleges run locally by King Saud University and Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University merged, and it now has 17 colleges plus branches across the region’s governorates.
Non-Saudi students join on scholarship through two routes. External scholarships cover applicants outside the Kingdom without a valid residency, GCC nationals, and residents sponsored by Qassim or another Saudi university; they apply on the Ministry of Education’s Study in Saudi platform. Internal scholarships cover non-Saudis already resident in the Kingdom and not under a university’s sponsorship; they apply through the university’s own portal.
Scholarship terms follow the Ministry’s rules for public universities, which allow a full scholarship, a partial one, or a paid place. For the 1448 AH academic year the graduate offer runs to 24 master’s and 5 doctoral programs across engineering, languages and humanities, business and economics, education, Sharia and law, mathematics and fashion design, with tuition from SAR 40,000 for a master’s and SAR 60,000 for a doctorate.
Benefits & funding
- Full scholarship: a tuition-free place with housing, health care for the student and family members living with them, a one-off payment on arrival, and annual travel tickets under the applicable rules, plus the same services as other students.
- Partial scholarship: only some of those benefits.
- Paid place: the student pays the tuition fees.
- Which of the three a given Qassim program carries is set in its listing on the Study in Saudi platform.
- The university’s International Student Affairs department handles students’ health, administrative and housing needs, and its Sanad guidance program offers academic, psychological and social support.
- Internal graduate candidates pay tuition once the Ministry gives final approval; the graduate application fee is SAR 100, non-refundable.
- Neither the university pages nor the Ministry page publish a monthly allowance figure.
Eligibility
- Open to non-Saudi nationals of any country; Saudi nationals go through regular admission.
- External route: GCC nationals; applicants outside the Kingdom without a valid Saudi residency; or residents sponsored by Qassim University or another Saudi university.
- Internal route: a valid residency not sponsored by a Saudi university, still valid for at least one year from the application date; residents on a work permit need their employer’s approval stamped by the Chamber of Commerce.
- Internal graduate route: a completed degree from a recognised university, shown by the graduation certificate rather than a graduation statement, attested by the Saudi embassy or cultural attaché in the country of issue.
- Internal graduate route: the chosen program’s GPA and previous-major requirements, and its required English (STEP) score in hand at the time of applying.
- Age: the Ministry sets 17 to 25 for undergraduate study; master’s applicants may be at most 30 and doctoral applicants at most 35.
- Health majors are not offered to internal non-Saudi candidates.
- Ministry conditions for all scholarship students: a medical examination, a security clearance, attested certificates, no past dismissal from a Saudi institution, a mahram where the rules require one, home-government approval where required, and no other scholarship in the Kingdom.
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Education required
High School · Bachelor · Master
Age requirement
≥ 17 yrs
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Application process
- 1Pick the route: external if you are abroad, a GCC national or a university-sponsored resident; internal if you are any other resident.
- 2External applicants register on the Study in Saudi platform, choose a Qassim University program and upload their documents.
- 3Internal applicants sign in to the university’s MyQU portal, open the Scholarships for Non-Saudis service and create a request with the scholarship type, residency number and study type.
- 4Upload any documents the Ministry does not already hold, then keep the application number the system issues.
- 5The university sends candidates for preliminary admission to the Ministry of Education, and admission becomes final only after the Ministry approves; accepted applicants are notified by text message.
- 6Internal graduate candidates pay tuition after that final approval.
Program timeline
online applications for graduate programs opened, internal non-Saudi candidates included.
27 Muharram 1448 AH (July 2026)
graduate applications closed.
11 Safar 1448 AH (25 July 2026)
After closing
the university forwards its candidates to the Ministry of Education, and final admission follows the Ministry’s approval.
External route
Qassim’s places and dates appear on the Study in Saudi platform each academic year.