The curriculum for the Qualifying Year Program has been approved by KSU's Council, decision No. 7\7\33, on 16 April 2012 (24\05\1433 A.H), in the Council's 7th meeting of the academic year 2011/2012 (1432\1433 A.H).

This decision was based on a number of reasons, mainly:

1. The approval of His Highness King Abdulah bin Abdulaziz in issue number (7/B/9173 ) on 14/05/1422 (the 5th of August, 2001), of enabling deaf and hard-of-hearing students to enroll in higher education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, mainly in Technical colleges according to their readiness, preference and ability.
2. Complying with the Article (24: Education) of the Disabled Persons Rights (2007) "States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities"
3. Deaf and hard-of-hearing students who would enroll in colleges and universities may face many difficulties, academically and socially. They may also face difficulties in following lectures in classrooms. In Addition to this, many faculty members are unfamiliar with the special methods of teaching and dealing with deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Deaf and hard-of-hearing students also have problems in Arabic reading and writing skills - as many studies showed - the level of comprehension and writing skills of high school graduate deaf student doesn’t exceed the level of a 4th grade hearing student. This explain the aim the Qualifying Year Program in improving Arabic language skills of deaf and hard-of-hearing students prior to their enrollment in higher education programs. The program provides them with all the supportive services they need inside and outside classrooms, and prepares their transition from secondary school environment into higher education environment
4. There are no other academic programs similar to KSU's Qualifying Year in the Arab World.