Copyright Hartford Courant
A Connecticut university will launch a “Pre-University Program” in Saudi Arabia in January 2026. The decision by the University of New Haven to develop this program builds on “the excitement and enthusiasm generated” as it became the first institution in the world to receive approval to open an international branch campus in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to the university. Through the program, high school students and other interested in pursuing a degree at the university, either at the international branch campus in Riyadh or the main campus in West Haven, “will be able to take Academic English Language and Pre-College Math classes as well as learn college-level academic skills and fundamentals of business instruction to develop the educational foundation to begin pursuing a degree in Fall 2026,” according to the university. “The launch of our Pre-University Program is a defining moment in our historic plan to become the first university in the world to open an international branch campus in Saudi Arabia,” said Jens Frederiksen, president of the University of New Haven, in an email statement. “As we pursue this ambitious undertaking, our principal focus is on ensuring interested students have the necessary foundation to excel while pursuing the U.S.-style undergraduate and graduate degrees that we plan to offer in Riyadh.” The UNH campus in Riyadh will begin offering degree programs through a College of Business and Digital Innovation in the Fall of 2026, pending final regulatory approvals, according to UNH. The university plans to expand to offer degrees through a College of Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing and a College of Arts and Applied Sciences. Undergraduate and graduate degrees will be offered alongside executive education and micro-credentials to support lifelong learning. “Students at the Riyadh campus will have access to both the university’s main campus in West Haven and its Tuscany campus, as well as the numerous educational and career-related resources available to all University of New Haven students,” according to the university. UNH envisions the Riyadh campus growing to serve up to 13,000 students within 10 years. “We are dedicated to being at the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to investing in human capital and in educating the elite global workforce of the future,” said Frederiksen. “We are grateful for the support we have received from the Saudi government, and we are excited to launch our Pre-University Program. It will equip students with the foundational competencies they need to thrive in our immersive, market-driven programs that will advance the transformative goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” he said. “We are steadfast in the belief that the more prepared and the more purpose-driven our students are as they get ready to pursue their degrees, the better positioned they will be to take advantage of all the college experience entails.” UNH also is building a Research and Development Park, which will be 130,000-square-foot former commercial space directly across the street from the UNH West Haven campus. Paul Lavoie, who was once Connecticut’s chief manufacturing officer, was hired as the University of New Haven’s first vice president of innovation, and is working on overseeing the formation of the Research and Development Park. The site is the former Railroad Salvage building at 1129 and 1131 Campbell Ave., West Haven. The school bought the property in December. The park will be designed as a center for innovation and applying technology “that is going to bring industry, academia, and government together to solve the challenges that we currently have in the manufacturing sector,” Lavoie has said. “And that is the lack of an available and skilled workforce in making sure that we have the workforce of the future, which includes driving innovation to make sure that we get machines to do the work for people.” Those interested in the Saudi education opportunity can apply at the University of New Haven Riyadh website. In addition to its main campus in West Haven, the university has a campus in Tuscany, Italy. The university also has noted it has long-standing relationships with Sikorsky, General Dynamics, Medtronic, Otis, RBC Bearings, Pratt and Whitney, Lee Company and Raytheon Technologies.
