Transforming the Academic System into a Trimester System in Higher Education: Case Study at KAU

The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is keen on the continuous development of higher education and the organization of continuous initiatives to improve the efficiency of the educational process and increase the quality of educational outputs. For this reason, it was adopted to transform the academic system in Saudi universities from the semester system to the trimester system as part of the transformation plan for the education system in the country. This study was applied to the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), to study the effect of using a trimester system in achieving the goals of the faculty’s strategic plan and contribute towards improving the quality of educational outcomes. A survey was implemented targeting the faculty students, to know their impressions and expectations about the system. The results summarize suggestions for implementing the system flexibly, contributing to facilitating students’ adaptation to this system and achieving its positive effects on their academic interests.