Green Economy and Institutional Sustainability in Saudi Higher Education: Empirical Evidence Under Vision 2030

Anchored in the strategic framework of Vision 2030, the research departs from anecdotal or survey-based approaches by exclusively leveraging publicly available, auditable data from national ministries, international university rankings, and scholarly publication databases. An original Integrated Green Transformation Framework (IGTF) is operationalized through fixed-effects regression modeling, longitudinal policy document analysis, and cross-sectional benchmarking of sustainability performance indicators across twelve Saudi universities. The findings demonstrate a statistically significant and temporally coherent association between national green policy milestones, such as the Saudi Green Initiative and the National Renewable Energy Program 2018, and measurable improvements in university-level sustainability strategies, operational efficiency, and research output. The average share of renewable energy utilization across sampled institutions increased from 2.1 percent in 2016 to 18.7 percent in 2023, representing substantial progress yet remaining below the Vision 2030 national target of 50%, while per-student water consumption declined by 34 percent over the same period. Scholarly publications in green economy domains rose by 638 percent, with a strong positive correlation (r = 0.76, p < 0.001) between research intensity and curriculum integration of sustainability content. Despite these advances, persistent disparities exist in resource allocation and implementation depth, particularly between historically endowed universities and newer regional institutions, highlighting a “sustainability divide” that requires targeted policy intervention.