Arab Open University (AOU) is a non-profit university system in the Arab world. Headquartered in Kuwait, the system is composed of 16 campuses across 9 countries: Ardiya in Kuwait, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madinah, Ḥail, Al-Ahsa in Saudi Arabia, Seeb in Oman, A'ali in Bahrain, Amman in Jordan, Al-Bireh in Palestine, Beirut, Antelias, Tripoli in Lebanon, El-Shorouk in Egypt and Khartoum in Sudan. The university has a combined student body of 55,170 students, 869 staff members and 77,037 living alumni. The headquarters of the university is located in Kuwait, designated in 2000. The university has a long-standing academic partnership with the United Kingdom's Open University.

History

Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud founded the university in December 2000. Kuwait was chosen to be the headquarters for the university. At that same time, 6 branches were established in Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Teaching commenced in early October 2002 in Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon while Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt started in the fall semester of 2002-2003. Subsequent branches were established afterwards. A branch was opened in Oman in September 2007, in Sudan in September 2013, and in Palestine in 2017. The university also intends to open branches in Yemen, Syria and Mauritania.

Academics

Academic programs

AOU degree offerings include Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Master of Education and Bachelor of Laws. The university's academic programs are focused on business, computer sciences, arts, educations and laws.

Organization and administration

The university operates under the chairmanship of Abdulaziz bin Talal Al Saud and the presidency of Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Zakri.

Branches

Faculties