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Accrediting Body:
Israel Council for Higher Education
P.O.B. 4037, Jerusalem 91040, Israel
Tel: 972-2-5679911
Fax: 972-2-5679969
E-mail: info@che.org.il
Website: www.che.org.il
Accreditation Process:
The Council for Higher Education is the State institution in Israel responsible for higher education, including teaching and research. Accredited programs in Israel are divided into two main categories: A. Universities; and B. Other Institutions of
Higher Education. Israel's Committee for Examining the Higher Education System, better known as the Shochat Committee, sets tuition rates. In 2007 recommendations were made to increase tuition by about 72%, but action on this has been delayed and may not apply for the 2008-2009 school year as originally planned. Current rate is NIS 8,588 for Israeli students; international students pay an additional 25% which brings that rate currently to NIS 10,735.
Higher Education in Israel
The foundations of the higher education system in Israel were laid in the 1920's when the Technion (1924) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1925) opened. When the State of Israel was established these were the only two universities in
the country. The increase in population, as well as economic and social developments, led to a demand for higher education and, in response, five new universities were established during the 1950's and 1960's: Bar-Ilan University, Tel-Aviv University, the University of Haifa, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
During the 1990's the higher education system underwent further improvement, when the 10th amendment to the Council for Higher Education Law made possible the opening of various academic colleges: general colleges, technological colleges,
and colleges devoted to one profession or discipline.
Currently the higher education system in Israel comprises eight universities, twenty-seven academic institutions that are not universities (both budgeted and extra-budgetary), twenty-seven institutions for the training of teachers and a number of academic programs at regional colleges, for which universities are academically responsible.
