education is free at all levels. the school system is composed of elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools. a large part of the curriculum at all levels is devoted to islam, and, at the secondary level, students are able to follow either a religious or a technical track. the rate of literacy is 97.1% among males and is about 92.71% among females (2017). classes are segregated by sex. higher education has expanded rapidly, with large numbers of universities and colleges being founded particularly since 2000. institutions of higher education include the country's first university, king saud university founded in 1957, the islamic university at medina founded in 1961, and the king abdulaziz university in jeddah founded in 1967. king abdullah university of science and technology, known as kaust, founded recently in 2009. other colleges and universities emphasize curricula in sciences and technology, military studies, religion, and medicine. institutes devoted to islamic studies, in particular, abound. women typically receive college instruction in segregated institutions.