Besides the Prophet's Mosque, generally regarded as a pioneering institution for higher learning, Madinah witnessed the establishment of universities that worked for a synthesis between traditional religious studies and the modern system imported from abroad. "Al Jamiy' ah Al Islamiyyah" (Islamic University) is a prominent example in this regard. Established in 1961 during King Faisal's reign, the university articulated its mission as ultimately "the conveyance of Islam's immortal message to the world by way of communication, teaching and higher studies." This was in addition to other goals that included "educating the Muslim students who enroll in it. "This latter goal indicated one major reason for establishing the university, a reason already highlighted by its name : the university aimed at being an institute for all Muslims by providing generous tuition grants particularly to those Muslim countries where students find it economically difficult to travel and enroll. The university curricula made it easy for its students to study Sharia as well as other fields of learning such as medicine and engineering.

Apart from the Islamic University, Madinah students had the opportunity to enroll in various other higher learning university colleges and vocational schools. These were branches of universities based in other cities, mainly Makkah and Jeddah. In 2003, some of those colleges were unified under the banner of an independent university known as Taibah University. As other colleges were added, the University acquired a character and vocation that complemented its older sister, the Islamic university, by focusing on fields more oriented towards professional and developmental needs, fields continually called for by a demanding market. Yet Taibah University could not but remain true to its name, that given to Madinah by .the Prophet (PBUH) when he said that it is "Taibah attaiybah" (the blessed Taibah).