KAU is a public university with an annual endowment fund of approximately $1 billion (£690 million).
- Following Islamic regulations, KAU has two separate campuses in Jeddah – one each for men and women – both inaugurated in 1968. Each one provides cultural and recreational facilities, in addition to well-equipped libraries. There is also a sports “city”, including a 7,000-capacity stadium, and various clubs ranging from sports and horsemanship to drama.
- There are 17 main faculties: applied medical sciences; arts and humanities; computing and information technology; dentistry; earth sciences; economics and administration; engineering;environmental design; home economics; marine sciences; medicine; meteorology, environment and arid land agriculture; pharmacy; sciences; law; communications and media; and nursing.
- Also on campus are the Jeddah Community College, Islamic Economics Institute, Tourism Institute and the Arabic Language Institute for Non-Arabic Speakers. Additionally, KAU has seven off-campus faculties, including the Faculty of Maritime Studies.
- KAU houses the King Abdulaziz University Hospital, one of the largest in the region, containing 4,788 rooms including 132 classrooms and a bed capacity of 845, rising to 1,000 in an emergency. A new clinical skills centre is being built alongside the hospital, complete with modern clinical simulation devices and instruments.
- The university has also set up a cluster of research centres in areas such as genomic medicine, advanced materials, climate change, desalination technology, osteoporosis research and environmental studies. Annual research funding reaches $70 million and the university has 82 international academic and professional accreditations for its educational and vocational programmes.
