Awwal 18, 1432, Feb 21, 2011, SPA -- The Vice Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Ali bin Suleiman Al-Atiyyah stressed that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz Al Saud has been the real supporter of higher education and his auspicious era has been witnessing a real boom in higher education. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), he pointed out that the number of Saudi universities has exceeded 24, and the governorates covered by higher education increased from 17 to 89 and the number of students on scholarships from 2500 to 110,000. Dr. Al-Atiyyah noted that the King's patronization of the 2nd International Conference of E-learning and Distance Education due to start here later today re-affirms the King's previous patronization of the first conference organized by the Ministry of Higher Education.