RIYADH — Saudi Arabia"s Minister of Education and Chairman of the University Affairs Council (UAC) Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh said that three premier Saudi universities would have autonomy in the academic, financial, and administrative areas. “The new Universities Law will apply to King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, and Imam Abdul Rahman Bin Faisal University in the first phase,” he said, while noting that the highest authorities have issued the necessary approval in this regard. Under the law, the three universities would enjoy disciplined autonomy in framing their academic, financial, and administrative regulations. They can also formulate their specializations and programs in accordance with the development needs and job opportunities in the regions that come under their jurisdiction, and these shall be in line with the general policies approved by the State through UAC. Al-Sheikh congratulated the three universities and all their officials for winning this great honor. He wished them success in serving the country and its leadership, as well as in achieving the vision of the country to have transformative development in the Kingdom’s university education. The minister said that UAC has adopted 23 standards and 74 indexes to determine the extent of preparedness of various Saudi universities to implement the new Universities Law in their academic, administrative and financial realms. A committee had been constituted on March 25 to review, examine and evaluate the readiness of universities in this regard. The committee included experts and specialists from a number of universities in the fields of measurement and evaluation and management of university education. The committee made the choice of the three universities after they had secured the highest percentage of approved standards and indexes, and after thoroughly examining and assessing the merits of all the universities. Al-Sheikh hoped that more universities would elevate themselves to enjoy autonomy and other privileges under the new law in the near future and thus contributing to achieve the strategic goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.