INTERNATIONALIZATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION:
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ISRAEL
PROPOSAL FOR POLICY PRINCIPLES
JULY 2016
Authored by – Dr. Liat Maoz, Deputy Director General for Strategy and International Affairs
1
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Background – Internationalization in Higher Education Systems Around the
World
3. Rationale for promoting the subject of international students
in Israel and qualitative targets
4. Proposed policy guidelines
5. International students in Israel – Potential and Objectives
6. Appendix - "A BRIEF OVERVIEW ON THE STATUS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
IN ISRAEL" REPORT presented to the Planning & Budgeting Committee on 30.3.2016
2
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper is a continuation of the report "A BRIEF OVERVIEW ON THE STATUS OF
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ISRAEL" discussed in the PBC on 30.3.2016 (and
attached as an appendix at the end of this document). This report reviews the current
position of Israeli higher education institutions in terms of international students and the
structures in place in Israeli HEIs to handle international students; additionally, the
document reviews comparative data relative to other countries.
In continuation thereof, this document presents proposals for policy guidelines for the
Council for Higher Education (CHE)/Planning & Budgeting Committee (PBC) over the
next five years to recruit international students to Israeli academia - based both on the
current situation and on other policy positions relevant in the world. There are also issues
which we shall present but will be left for decision at a later stage. Nevertheless, there is no
doubt that in due course – based on the policy guidelines and budgets approved for the
purpose – it will be necessary to construct a detailed work plan with the aid of a CHE /
PBC steering committee on the subject of internationalization as well as with the assistance
of the CHE/PBC professional staff.
In this document – unless specifically stated otherwise – the term "international students"
will refer to academic students who do not hold Israeli citizenship, and attend an Israeli
academic institution for (full or partial) Bachelor, Master or Doctoral degrees, shorter
academic programs, or post-doctorates (although the latter may more aptly be described as
researchers rather than students).
We wish to reiterate here that the issue of international students is only one of a list of
issues under the heading "internationalization in higher education", and various institutions
in Israel will have to adapt the types of activities suitable for them, if any, by themselves –
in accordance with their identity and vision – under the heading "internationalization" and
perhaps under the heading "multiculturalism" in its broadest sense:
In teaching, aside from of the integration of international students, and the diversification of
the student body, there are complementary aspects such as the diversification of the faculty,
ensuring compatibility between the skills which the institution confers upon students and
the academic world and the labor market (i.e., adapting syllabi, language of instruction, use
of technologies, etc. – "internationalization at home"), adapting the services HEIs provide
to students, their special needs and their background, teaching collaboration by the
institution with other institutions around the world (such as student and lecturer mobility
agreements, joint and dual degrees, partnerships in international projects to promote quality
of teaching, faculty training) and more.
In the research sphere there is an additional range of collaborations which can be
maintained with researchers and/or institutions around the world – collaborative research,
joint research infrastructure, membership in international research projects, international
workshops and conferences, cooperation between research centers and the like.
The decision of an institution to promote such initiatives should ensue from the
development of an institutional internationalization strategy, the adoption of a holistic and
consistent approach, and the provision of adequate resources to deal with and promote the
issue.
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2. BACKGROUND – Internationalization in Higher Education Systems IN
VARIOUS COUNTRIES
In the past two decades many countries have formulated a policy for internationalization of
higher education and post-secondary school training, which include earmarked budget
allocations, academic regulation and marketing and information activity at the national
level. Mapping these national initiatives indicates that the goals which governments seek to
achieve are diverse, and include a desire to raise academic quality alongside economic,
social and political objectives. A significant portion of national initiatives were formulated
in collaboration between various offices and bodies such as foreign ministries, economic
ministries, etc. In general, it can be said that the formulation of internationalization
policies in the various countries stems from the perception that the adaptation of
education systems to the international academic world and the global labor market is
essential in the twenty-first century, and that it has made a significant contribution to
raising the quality of education. From this broad perspective, different countries place
emphasis on different topics within the range of international activities in accordance with
their needs.
When we examine the various national initiatives in order to learn from their experience
about existing trends and effective policy tools, it is important to remember that the general
background and in particular the academic landscape in such countries are very different
from those in Israel. This is especially true with regard to the language of instruction in
higher education institutions, the level of development of existing international contacts,
geographical location and involvement in regional and trans-national initiatives. The
starting point for national policies on this issue is particularly different in the European
Union because these countries' membership in the Bologna Process not only enables them
to take part in the trans-national programs, but to a certain extent also characterizes the
rationale and objectives for promoting the advancement of internationalization of higher
education within the countries. For example, within the Bologna Process, numerical targets
have been set for student mobility: by 2020, 20% of graduates of higher education
institutions in Europe are expected to pursue a period of learning outside of their country,
as part of their studies.1
Despite the differences between the characteristics of the higher education system in Israel
and those in other countries, learning from the experience of other countries in this regard
is important and contributes to an understanding of the major trends in advancing
internationalization in higher education around the world.
For purposes of the discussion on the objectives of internationalization in the higher
education system in Israel and fundamental aspects thereof, we can point to three main
goals driving processes of internationalization in different countries and in particular
policies on mobility:
• Increasing quality and competitiveness and ensuring the sustainability of the
academic system
• Integrating international, cross-cultural and global dimensions within the
training provided by academia
1 Within the framework of the Bologna Process, a strategy was defined for higher education in Europe
in the global era. For additional details, see Chapter 7 (pages 225-267) in the following document:
http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/SubmitedFiles/5_2015/132824.pdf
4
• Promoting the competitiveness and economy of the country
It is important to note that these objectives do not contradict each other, and policy
documents of other countries integrate these different objectives.
In contrast to the European countries which generally ascribe less importance to the
economic aspect of the international student market, there are countries such as Canada,
UK, USA and Australia which greatly emphasize the economic value of attracting
international students.2 There is no doubt that the fact that these are countries where the
language of instruction is English also helps to attract many international students.
NAFSA, the American International Education Association, publishes an annual report on
the economic impact of international students on the United States. As of 2014, the
international education market resulted in revenue of 27 billion US Dollars. This market
generates 340,000 jobs in the US, where every 7 students who sign up for study in the
United States create or support 3 new jobs.3
The Australian policy and strategy document regarding internationalization in higher
education describes the benefits of recruiting international students. Among several benefits
mentioned is also made of the economic value of recruiting international students to the
higher education system. In 2015, revenue from this market was 19 billion Australian
Dollars. In addition, the international student market in Australia provides work for more
than 130,000 citizens.4
The United Kingdom's policy document regarding international students which was
published in 2013, also mentions the economic value of recruiting international students. In
2011, the international student market produced revenues of 17.5 billion Pounds to the
British economy, where more than 75% stemmed from tuition fees and living expenses of
students.5 Today, discussions are underway in the British government on updating the
tuition policy and allowing differential tuition fees for international students.6
These two basic models – the European model and the American-UK-Australian model –
must be taken into account when we adjust the relevant policies to Israel.
2 http://wenr.wes.org/2015/02/international-student-mobility-trends-2015-an-economic-perspective
3 http://wenr.wes.org/2015/02/international-student-mobility-trends-2015-an-economic-perspective
4
https://nsie.education.gov.au/sites/nsie/files/docs/national_strategy_for_international_education_202
5.pdf
5 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/340600/bis-13-1081-
international-education-global-growth-and-prosperity-revised.pdf
6 The consultation in the British government on this matter (Green Paper) and the pre-legislative
papers (White Papers) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-
education-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice.
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3. MOTIVES FOR PROMOTING THE ARRIVAL OF INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS TO ISRAEL AND QUALITATIVE TARGETS – THE ROLE OF
CHE / PBC
(A) The importance of promoting the issue for Israeli academia and Israel in
general
The enrolment of international students in Israeli academic institutions may have many
advantages – for the institutions themselves, for Israeli students and for the State of Israel
as a whole.
In terms of the academic institutions the key advantages are:
• Raising academic quality by virtue of access to the global market of students (and
therefore also of the faculty)
• Creating and strengthening the institutions' international reputation
• Possibility of preserving unique / low demand areas by "importing" students
• Diversifying sources of revenue and a possible source of profit
• Tool for reducing academic boycotts
In terms of Israeli students - if they are exposed to international students, the chief
benefits are:
• Social and cultural diversity – skills needed in today's world ("global citizens"
including improving academic English)
• Improving academic quality
And in terms of the State of Israel as a whole, it is possible to point to a number of
potential benefits:7
• Political and diplomatic contribution
• Export of expertise
• Improving the quality and attractiveness of the country's institutions
• Supporting the creation of a multicultural society
• Strengthening the relationship with Diaspora Jewry (when it relates to Jewish
students)
• Subsequent ability to maintain high-caliber human resources in the economy (Brain
Circulation)
However, it is important to note that this is a list of potential benefits, the achievement of
each of which depends on policy. Thus, for example, "improving academic quality" in fact
depends on the arrival of high caliber students; the ability to create a source of revenue
from this type of activity depends on the policy for collecting tuition fees from those
students and the level of services provided to them; the benefit to Israeli students depends
on their level of exposure to international students; the ability to retain high caliber
personnel in the economy depends on work visa policies, etc..
7 In Israel, unlike countries such as Australia and New Zealand, we do not anticipate that the
international student sector can become a significant economic sector.
6
As we saw in the previous section, various countries around the world have been driven by
different motives when developing a national strategy on international students. Some have
been motivated by the ideological concept that higher education is inherently global, some
by a desire to raise the standard of the educational system (especially for the benefit of the
students of the home country), some by economic interests (increasing and diversifying the
sources of revenue of the educational system – both by paying students and by donors), and
some by political and diplomatic interests (which too, of course, have economic
implications).
Naturally, there need not be a contradiction between the objectives and in any case
considerable benefits will ensue from the development of this subject, however, the CHE /
PBC, which are responsible for Israel's higher education system, must formulate the
motivations and priorities and on that basis determine the measures which should be taken
to achieve the goals. The following proposal is set out in order of importance:
i. Raising standards and competitiveness of the Israeli academic system;
This will form the basis of efforts to draw students and researchers of high
academic levels to Israel, and in so far as possible increase the interaction
between them and Israeli students;
ii. Financial contribution to the academic system;
Later, we shall formulate policy guidelines on the basis of this key concept.
It should be noted here that objectives such as raising academic quality or raising the
standard and competitiveness of the educational system are difficult to quantify and
therefore to define quantitative, measurable objectives.
(B) The Functions of the Council for Higher Education and PBC
As mentioned, higher education institutions have inherent incentives to recruit international
students, and there is no doubt that Israel has academic institutions and academic staff on a
world-class standard. One may therefore ask why to date we have only witnessed a very
small number of international students coming to Israel (compared to other developed
countries)? Where does the market require regulation and where does it require the
bottleneck to be opened – both within and outside the academic world? And how do we see
the role of CHE / PBC in this context?
The principal difficulties and disincentives are as follows:
Objective difficulties:
• Security situation
• Geographical distance
• The relatively high cost of living
• Language barrier
• Differences in age and life experience, especially of undergraduates (and therefore
differences in the student experience)
• Occasionally – political positions and international image
7
Difficulties outside the academic world:
• Difficulties in providing work permits for spouses; granting visas for internships
during or after studies in Israel; providing opportunities for professional work
experience after studies;
• Difficulty in providing affordable health insurance to international students
Difficulties and disincentives in the academic world:
• The lack of a coherent institutional policy on this matter – vision of
internationalization in general and international students in particular, the
motivation for concrete measures and objectives (in this context, often there is also
no coherent policy regarding academic study in English for Israeli students);
• Work processes and organizational structure to handle this matter – not always
structured and coherent in institutions;
• Particularly in Universities – difficulty on the part of management to direct the
units in the institutions to establish programs or build courses for international
students;
• The lack of budgetary resources to build appropriate infrastructure within the
institution (opening programs in English and dealing with international students)
and scholarships for outstanding students (in many cases the institutions do not feel
they can recruit high level, paying students);
• Limits on tuition fees for international students in funded programs (set by the
Meltz Committee) do not always allow institutions to make the programs
economically feasible;
• Sometimes lack of dormitories or housing for international students;
• Institutions sometimes lack information and familiarity with the market, know-how
to perform academic screening regarding different countries, etc.;
• Lack of appropriate marketing and branding on a national level;
• Often lecturers do not feel comfortable teaching in English.
Accordingly, we propose that CHE / PBC undertake (including through the purchase of
services, outsourcing or partnering with other bodies) the following functions:
- Formulation of policy and national planning – determining the vision and
objectives related to international students (general and specific as needed)
and coordination between the different institutions; continued monitoring of
data and trend analysis vis-à-vis the institutions:
• Regulating various aspects – budgetary and economic (including level of
tuition fees, and teacher remuneration), academic and planning;
• Initiating processes in institutions to formulate a vision, strategies and
objectives regarding internationalization;
• Initiating processes to build appropriate infrastructures in institutions,8
with the aim of ensuring that support is limited in time, until the
institutions are able to continue without support;
8 Including issues such as the development of courses in English and training the teaching staff,
recognition of foreign studies, translating credits obtained from Israeli studies to ECTS, etc.
8
• Advising institutions in regards to the development of international
programs and marketing strategies
- Vis-à-vis international students
• Marketing and branding efforts on a national level
• Operating scholarship for outstanding students;
• Assistance to international students with information, and in dialogue
with other Ministries –with regard to visas, health insurance, banks, etc.
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4. PROPOSED POLICY GUIDELINES
In this section we propose eleven guidelines for CHE / PBC policy on this matter, which, of
course, must later be formulated into a comprehensive policy and then executed. It is
important to emphasize at this stage that even in the context of formulating policy and
national planning, we believe it appropriate for each institution to choose its own goals and
develop within that framework.
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1. As our main objective in internationalization was chosen to be improving
academic quality and competitiveness for the benefit of Israeli students, we
recommend:
- Focusing on drawing HIGH ACADEMIC LEVEL STUDENTS to Israel
- WHEREVER POSSIBLE INTEGRATING international students with Israeli
students in the same classes
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Even though offering separate programs for international students allows full compatibility
with specific target sectors as well as separate forms of management and funding, it appears
that for many countries and institutions integrated classes provide a broad framework for
implementing internationalization in the domestic higher education system, which is
intended to serve not only the international student but also the local student. We therefore
propose that we strive for models in which international students are integrated into regular
classes wherever possible.9
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2. Nonetheless, we wish to give AN OPPORTUNITY TO INSTITUTIONS TO RECRUIT
PAYING STUDENTS AND BUILD PROGRAMS THAT WILL ULTIMATELY MAINTAIN
THEMSELVES FINANCIALLY, and even create a source of profit for the
institution. Therefore, restrictions on tuition fees for international students,
lecturers' wages and hours and the PBC subsidization policy for those students
should be determined accordingly.
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In many countries, even when the international students are integrated into regular classes,
it is possible to charge them higher tuition fees (in European countries with such policies,
this applies to non-Europeans). The United Kingdom, for example, as mentioned earlier, is
currently updating its legislation to allow Universities to increase tuition fees for
9 It is important to recall that in the Technion, Tel Aviv University, Hebrew
University and IMBA programs in Bar Ilan University, there are already separate
international schools for international students, and therefore it is necessary to
formulate a position regarding the approach to be taken towards existing separate
frameworks.
10
international students and allow differentiation between different Universities' tuition
fees.10
We propose that updated guidelines be formulated in respect of the collection of tuition
fees from international students in funded programs (and correspondingly update the Meltz
Committee guidelines) as well as non-budgeted plans (which will complement the
recommendations of the Gronau Committee), decide whether the PBC would like to
continue to subsidize international students in programs funded through the budget
allocation model, and determine guidelines regarding limitations on lecturers' wages and
their teaching hours, so that all these will allow institutions to build economically balanced
models, and perhaps even models that will garner profits for the institutions.
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3. Focus on degrees
ON ADVANCED DEGREES
- PhD, post-doctoral degree – which are of great importance to Israeli
research
- Master's degree (primarily non-research) – as part of the improvement of
academic quality, and a potential source of income from paying students
- (Bachelor's degree – we do not propose this as a primary focal point, but as
programs which should be developed more slowly and on an individual
basis)
- SUMMER COURSES AND SHORT TERM COURSES – principally as marketing
devices for full degrees
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We propose that as a rule, focus should be placed on graduate rather than Bachelor's
degrees, primarily because of the relative ease of opening Master's degree programs in
English compared to the relative difficulty of opening such programs for Bachelor's
degrees. In Bachelor's degrees the programs are much longer and it would be more difficult
for Israeli students to integrate in the English language programs in a large number of
courses which it would be compulsory for the institution to offer in English; it would be
more difficult for the institution to screen and judge the caliber of the international
candidates; the age gap between the international students and the Israeli students would be
more significant; and the length of the study programs would have greater deterrent effect
than the one or two years for Master's degrees. It should be noted that in non-English
speaking countries as well, we see a much higher proportion of international students
taking graduate as opposed to Bachelor's degrees. In these countries (where the main
language of instruction is not English) Master's degree students constitute the majority of
paying students.
At the same time, of course, if international undergraduate programs already exist it is
important that they continue to work well. Likewise, we believe it appropriate to open
international undergraduate programs in fields where there is a minority of Israeli students
and it is important for institutions to preserve those fields.
10 The British Green Paper on the matter and pre-legislative documents (White Papers) are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/higher-education-teaching-excellence-social-
mobility-and-student-choice.
11
With regard to short term and summer courses, it is clear from feedback we obtained from
students from China and India who came to study in Israel and from a survey conducted by
the international research company The Knowledge Partnership11 that most of the students
had at least one contact with Israel before their arrival for study (in most cases they had
visited Israel before or had friends or family in Israel) and many of the students who came
for a full degree had previously attended a summer course in Israel or another short
program. Accordingly, academically it seems reasonable to invest in recruiting students to
such programs as a "marketing" measure for the full degrees.
In addition, the short programs can also become a source of income for institutions, and a
means of obtaining experience in handling international students before establishing the full
infrastructure for needed to handle full degree students; naturally there are also many
benefits on the political level, as they present an effective means of exposing numerous
students to Israel.
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4. MARKETING STRATEGIES – KEY TARGET GROUPS:
- Among Master's degree and undergraduate students (for full degrees or
short periods) – we see two key target groups:
(a) Outstanding students from Asia – and in particular from China
and India
(b) Outstanding Jewish students – in particular from the United
States and Canada
- In respect of PhD and post-doctoral students, emphasis must be placed
solely on excellence without need for geographic or other focus
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Defining the target groups is particularly relevant to Master's degree and undergraduate
students (for full or short periods), since with regard to doctoral and post-doctoral degree
students we expect the researchers themselves to be much more involved in their selection,
either by virtue of personal acquaintance with the candidate or with those recommending
him, and therefore to make the selection on the basis of academic excellence only.
Accordingly, for doctorate and post-doctorates we recommend the continuation of
supporting programs for outstanding students covering all the various target countries in
Asia, North America and Europe.
Master's degree (especially those without thesis) and Bachelor's degrees require a wider
marketing of the system to prospective students, where often neither these students nor
those recommending them are personally known and therefore it is necessary to build a
strategy that focuses efforts on specific target groups. This definition derives from the
observation of the global market of international students and trends in that market, and
from an analysis of the relative advantages of Israel as a market for higher education (and
consequently it can change in accordance with changes in the competitive positioning of
Israel).
11 The survey was carried within the framework of a strategic study on the matter carried out by TKP
for the Hebrew University and Jerusalem Municipality, and included 288 international students, with
55 nationalities, studying in the Hebrew University.
12
In terms of the global market, the data shows that East Asia is the largest exporter of
international students:12 in 2013 53% of international students came from Asia, of whom
about half came from China and India (out of 53% from Asia: 21% from China, 5% from
India, 3% from Korea, 2% from Saudi Arabia, and 1% from Indonesia), followed by
Europe with only 25%. In countries such as USA, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom,
Netherlands, and Germany, which are major destinations for international students (outside
of Asia), the countries of origin of the leading numbers of students were China and
sometimes India (except for German students in the Netherlands – which is explained by
the fact that these are neighboring countries with similar languages, and Turkish students in
Germany – which is explained by the significant migration from Turkey to Germany).
Israel already has a large number of Bachelor's and Master's degree students from China
and India (as well as a large number of doctoral and post-doctoral students from India and
China13) – a trend that has grown in recent years due in large part to CHE / PBC programs
to promote academic ties between the countries.
It is also important to note that in Asia, and in particular in China and India, Israel has a
very positive image, and is associated with values of innovation and excellence. Students
from India find it easier to learn in English in Israel.
Based on all these reasons it seems to us that it would be appropriate to focus efforts on
recruiting outstanding Bachelor's and Master's degree students from Asia and in particular
from China and India.
Another target group for which Israel has a relative advantage compared to other countries
is the Jewish population around the world, which is more likely to think of Israel as one of
the destinations for academic studies abroad. About 72% of world Jewry outside Israel live
in North America (see Appendix 6E), where there is a structured culture of pursuing part of
the academic training in other countries – and therefore the proposed focus on this area.
However, if specific opportunities arise, efforts should also be made in countries like
France or the United Kingdom, where there are also relatively large numbers of Jews (6.1%
of world Jewry outside Israel, and 3.7%, respectively).
It should be noted that from the data we have collected from institutions, already 84% of
international students taking full Bachelor's degrees in Israel are Jews, as are 70% of
students taking full Master's degrees without thesis. There are also institutions such as the
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya which focus efforts on Jewish international students, and
today about 95% of its international students are Jewish. In Bar-Ilan University as well
about 85% of the total number of international students are Jewish.
Alongside these targets, activities must of course continue to be made to mobilize students
vis-à-vis Europe through Erasmus + (through which hundreds of students from Europe
come to Israel every year) and vis-à-vis other specific groups.
12 OECD AT A GLANCE data – see the Appendix to the document "Situation".
13 It is interesting to note that out of the full degree PhD students (according to the CBS 2004), India
produced the largest number of doctoral students - 49 out of 384, and this without there being a
special PBC program supporting recruiting students from India. In the same year, there were 17 PhD
students from China, ranked fourth after Germany and Italy. With regard to post-doctoral students,
according to 2006 data, 51% of the international students came from India and China.
13
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5. PROMOTING TEACHING IN ENGLISH and the development of courses in English
(for Bachelor's and Master's degrees) within the higher education institutions
for Israeli students as well, so that over time a large number of such courses
will also be available to international students. Concurrently, the continued
development of full degree programs in English should be promoted with an
emphasis on Master's degrees.
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There is no doubt, and it is also evident from the data, that there is a direct link between the
supply of ETP (English Taught Programs) and attractiveness to international students., The
opening of a full degree program in English is a complex step (more so for Bachelor's
degrees and less so for advanced degrees, particularly in the sciences), and therefore we
propose beginning with the promotion of teaching in English and the opening of courses in
English for Israeli students. Such courses could already be offered to international students
for short periods, and over time they could be aggregated into full programs in English.
There is also a separate and important value in conferring English language academic study
skills on students from Israel based on the perspective that we want to produce more
graduates with skills relevant to the global labor market and/or with the ability to pursue
academic careers, which are intrinsically global.
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6. DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS for Master's degree or undergraduate students
(full degrees or for short periods) which are based on the fields in which Israel
has a relative advantage:
- STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics);
- Entrepreneurship and innovation;
- Judaism and Israeli culture
- Middle East
And basing the marketing strategy on these fields, while addressing the key
decision factors affecting international students
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According to our experience and that of institutions with international students and
according to the survey conducted by the international marketing company TKP,14 it
appears that the domains specified above are those where Israel is perceived to have a
competitive advantage, and therefore it appears that it will be easier to recruit outstanding
students and possibly also paying students to study in these fields. It also seems that there is
congruence between the above domains and the target groups that we have identified.
In addition, we recommend including the component of practical experience (internship) as
part of the program or after the conclusion of studies – this is a factor which has been
identified as an important consideration for international students when choosing a
curriculum.
14 It should be noted that TKP placed greater emphasis on the STEM subjects and innovation and less
stress on matters connected with Judaism, Israel and the Middle East. Nonetheless, and in view of
the key target group of North American Jewry, we consider it appropriate to add these subjects to the
list.
14
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7. CHE / PBC must exercise PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS when approving the
opening of programs with international target groups
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Planning considerations also have great significance in the context of international students
– when it is desirable to strengthen certain areas in general or increase their prestige, when
there are constraints on resources and it is necessary to prioritize between Israeli and
international students, when there is risk of significant impairment of staff / student ratios,
and when considerations of workforce shortages or surpluses in the Israeli economy in
certain areas come into play.
Here are some examples:
- The international assessment committees which engaged in a quality assessment of
the fields of Hebrew language (October, 2012), and Sociology-Anthropology (July,
2011) recommended that measures be taken to increase the number of international
graduate students in these areas, in order to strengthen the field and increase its
prestige;
- Many academic health professions are characterized by a lack of clinical teaching
infrastructure at the internship stage. These infrastructures are a national resource
which should be allocated in accordance with priorities for the benefit of the
economy and society in Israel. The Anduren Committee, the recommendations of
which were adopted by the PBC in August 2012, described the use of clinical fields
for medical teaching as a limited resource requiring allocations according to
national priorities in relation to the arrival of international students, and when
prioritizing it clarified that priority would be given to clinical fields for Israeli
students studying in Israeli schools, followed by Israeli students attending
Universities abroad, and finally to international students who had been accepted to
the program in Israel ahead of a foreign University degree.
- At the same time, there are areas of study in which there are a large number of
Israeli students, such as life sciences, where a considerable surplus of skilled labor
has been identified by the inter-ministerial team which examined the matter
(Recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Team Regarding Increasing the Supply
of Skilled Labor, 2012). With regard to areas such as these, it is necessary to
examine whether the surplus creates fertile ground for programs for international
students, who are not expected to affect the workforce in Israel.
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15
8. ADAPTING INTERNATIONALIZATION STRATEGIES TO THE COMPETITIVE
POSITIONING OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS:
- Institutions which have an international academic reputation – Help open and
market their programs to prospective students around the world and create a
critical mass of international students at the institution;
- Institutions which do not have any general international academic reputation
(or perhaps only in certain areas) and would like to attract international
students - Help develop focused collaboration with institutions abroad or with
staff abroad (faculty-led) which will create a critical mass of international
students at the institution . It is necessary to ensure that in these cases that
there is academic interaction between the international students and Israelis.
In all types of institutions it is also possible to consider promoting the opening
of joint degree / dual degrees or joint programs as well as other measures to
promote internationalization or multiculturalism beyond recruiting
international students.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the primary purpose of promoting internationalization in higher education (and
multiculturalism in general) is improving academic quality, it is important that any
institution which can see such added value from international / multicultural activities find
the right way to develop it. It is important for the institutions to give thorough consideration
to measures to promote internationalization in their institution and examine whether they
really contribute to the academic quality of their studies and steer the institution from its
main purpose and core activities.
Accordingly, we expect to see several groups of institutions: (a) those which choose to
focus on multiculturalism already existing in Israeli society and integrate more members of
the Orthodox, Arab, Bedouin, Druze, Circassians and Ethiopian communities and other
international communities in an optimal manner as possible within the student body and
faculty; (b) those which choose to focus on the various initiatives of internationalization but
not necessarily on recruiting international students – initiatives such as membership in
international projects of capacity building in higher education, academic staff and
managerial mobility, training international staff and more. As noted, the choice regarding
the type of initiative to take should correspond to the core activities of the institution and its
vision; (c) institutions that that choose to recruit international students (in addition to the
initiatives described in relation to Group b).
The question which must next be asked is which tools are best suited for institutions in
group (c).
It should be recalled that Israel today is not a significant player internationally in terms of
academic study destinations, despite the excellent academic institutions present in the
country. Only significant marketing and branding efforts on the one hand and efforts to
build appropriate infrastructure the other hand, can position the leading institutions in Israel
as top destinations in the international arena attracting a critical mass of international
students.
16
Accordingly, it appears to us that institutions which do not have a general international
academic reputation and wish to attract international students, would be wise to build on
bilateral contacts with institutions or researchers abroad. It is desirable for CHE / PBC to
provide incentives based on this principle.
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9. MEASURES SHOULD BE TAKEN TO ENSURE THE EXISTENCE OF A SIGNIFICANT
BODY TO ENGAGE IN MARKETING, BRANDING AND PROVIDING SUPPORT TO
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, which will operate in accordance with the policies
of CHE / PBC and be in charge of:
Marketing and branding the Israeli academic system (including operating a
website with comprehensive and reliable information, participation in
international fairs, activities in selected campuses, etc.)
Operating scholarship programs
Assisting international students with information and questions on general
and academic matters (such as recognition of degrees, credits, etc.)
Cooperating with the relevant bodies in Israel to open bottlenecks in
relation to visas, health insurance, banks, etc.
Advising higher education institutions on developing programs and
marketing strategies
Establishing training and qualification programs for institutions on issues
such as the development of courses in English and training teaching faculty,
recognition of foreign studies, translating the studies in Israel to ECTS, etc.
Maintaining contact with international alumni
Collecting data on international students coming to Israel
CHE / PBC will continue to be responsible in-house for the following issues:
Policy and planning
Budgetary support for institutions building infrastructure for
internationalization
Supporting research and trend analysis
Coordinating with and between higher education institutions
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In most destination countries for international students, a national administrative body has
been established as part of the internationalization policy, with the role of acting as a
national promotion agency for internationalization in higher education. The mandate of
these organizations often includes managing a focused marketing strategy, operating
international programs (e.g. Erasmus +), operating scholarship programs, provision of
services and information on choices of study for international students and local students
wishing to study abroad. In addition, these entities coordinate all information relating to
these activities, collect data and monitor trends in the world and domestically.
The organizational structure of these bodies and their powers differ from case to case,
however, it is possible to summarize the position by saying that generally they are funded
by several government ministries and are therefore largely subordinate to them and their
policies, but work autonomously in the implementation of their mandate. In practice, these
organizations play a significant role in promoting internationalization in higher education
17
as well as increasing the visibility of the institutions and finding partners and possibilities
for international cooperation.15
Our view is that a body such as this in Israel would support international students interested
in attending / reaching academic institutions in Israel and assist them with advice, whereas
the PBC would assist with funding for budgeted institutions (full details of the functions of
the above body, compared with those of the PBC appears above). It is clear that non-
budgeted institutions could play a significant role with regard to international students, and
consideration should be given in due course to the part they can play in increasing
competitiveness in the market.
We have no doubt that the existence of a significant body such as this in Israel would
be a seminal step in promoting the recruitment of international students to Israeli
institutions.
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10. THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE PBC will focus on the development of the
required infrastructure in the budgeted institutions - managerial attention and
proper organizational operations, opening programs in English, maintaining a
website and an e-mail system in English, a support system for international
students, developing marketing capabilities and international presence,
internal monitoring of the institution's data - analysis of trends, etc.
Our view is that with regard to Master's degrees (without thesis) and
Bachelor's degrees, the institutions will be able to recruit paying students of a
high academic level and/or donors to finance activities; and research budgets
will be used primarily to fund the majority of international doctoral and post-
doctoral students.
Concurrently, the PBC will provide budgetary support for RELATIVELY
LIMITED OUTSTANDING STUDENTS PROGRAMS - for Master's, PhD and post-
doctoral students in order to create incentives for students or outstanding
young researchers who are the subject of global competition, to come to Israel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In view of the analysis of the current situation in the higher education institutions in Israel,
and comparison with other countries, it seems that to the extent that suitable infrastructure
is developed in the leading institutions, the institutions will be able to operate programs that
sustain themselves financially at a high academic level. Accordingly, we propose PBC
support in two complementary areas – construction of infrastructure in the institutions and
operation of relatively limited programs for outstanding students.
We also recommend that the Foreign Ministry or other ministries consider support for
academic programs for "future leaders" from other countries. An example of a successful
program of this type in the United Kingdom – is the Chevening Scholarship.
15 Information and examples of the functions of national agencies may be found in the implementation
of the Bologna Process Report 2015, pp. 212-214:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/thematic_reports/182EN.pdf
18
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11. DIFFERENT TIME FRAMES must be addressed:
- In the short term (1-2 years), focus should be placed on the issue of regulation,
building the infrastructure for the institutions and capacity-building in respect
to marketing, branding and support for international students. During this
period, it is possible to focus on target groups that require less intensive efforts
(such as returning Israelis; doctoral students and post-doctoral students, etc.)
- Only in the medium term (up to 5 years) and long term (decade) can we expect
to witness a significant increase in the number of international students in
institutions with international reputations, and growth in the number of
international collaborations of all institutions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reason for setting different timeframes is that the international higher education market
is heavily reliant on word of mouth experiences, directly, through social networks, blogs,
etc.. Accordingly, if we begin with extensive measures to recruit international students,
before the aforementioned basis exists, more damage may result than good.
19
5. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ISRAEL – POTENTIAL AND
OBJECTIVES
As described in the OVERVIEW ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS REPORT, the following
presents the position of Israel relative to the OECD average regarding the proportion of
international students among all students enrolled in a full degree program, according to
degree:
Percentage of international ISRAEL OECD Average16
students enrolled in full 0.7%17 6%
Bachelor's degrees
Percentage of international 2.9 %18 14 %
students enrolled in full
Master's degrees 6.1%19 24 %
Percentage of international 1.3% 9%
PhD students
Total percentage of
international students out of
all students for full degrees
And below is a graph of data for various countries:
We also note that according to the survey we conducted in Israel, there are currently
approximately 12,000 international students, out of whom about 40% are in short term
studies, 40% in full term studies (Bachelor's degree or Master's degree without thesis) and
20% are engaged in research (doctoral, post-doctoral and Master's degrees with thesis).
In light of policy guideline No. 11 which refers to ranking the matter in coming years, we
would like to propose the following ten year goals:
16 Data of OECD – Education at a Glance, 2013.
17 1825 international students out of a total of 260,570 Bachelor's degree students
18 1420 international students for Master's degrees without thesis and another 330 international students
for Master's degrees with thesis out of 59,700 students for Master's degrees.
19 665 international doctoral students out of 10,880 doctoral students in Israel. In Israel, out of the 665
students we also counted doctoral students for short periods and therefore the rate for comparison
purposes must be lower.
20
Reaching (current) OECD averages for full Master's degree and PhD, on which, as noted,
we wish to focus:
Percentage of international students taking Ten Year Target
full Master's degrees 14%
Percentage of international students taking
PhDs 24%
In order to reach these targets, and subsequently make recommendations regarding action
plans, we wish to reach the following milestones within five years of implementing the
CHE / PBC policy on this issue:
- 150% growth in the number of students for short periods (reaching
approximately 15,000 per year);
- Average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 13% per year in the number of
students taking full degrees I or II without thesis (from 3,300 today: reaching
about 5,500 - of these a more moderate increase to about 2,500 students for
Bachelor's degrees and a more rapid growth for Master's degrees without thesis to
about 3,000 students);
- Average annual growth rate of 15% per year in the number of students and
research post-doctoral students (reaching about 3,300 students, of whom 1,000
doctoral students and approximately 2,300 international post-doctoral students).
From the point of view of full degrees, within five years this will position us (on the
assumption that there is no growth in the number of Israeli students by degree and no
significant growth in the number of international students taking Master's degrees with
thesis) as follows:
Percentage of international students taking Israel - Five Year Target
full Bachelor's degrees 1.0%
Percentage of international students taking
full Master's degrees 6.5%
Percentage of international students taking
PhDs 10%
Total percentage of international students
out of all students taking full degrees 2.1%
And in areas of high priority (Master's degree and doctorate), nearly doubling rates over
five years.
When building its action plan, CHE / PBC measures must be formulated so as to meet these
goals.
21
6. APPENDICES
AN OVERVIEW ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ISRAEL
REPORT
Presented to the PBC on March 30, 2016
Planning & Budgeting Committee
BACKGROUND DOCUMENT
OVERVIEW ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ISRAEL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Background - international students as part of "internationalization in higher
education"
2. A quantitative overview
A. Academic programs in English for international students
B. The numbers and distribution of international students in Israel
3. Qualitative overview - indications
4. Treatment of this issue by the institutions
5. The approach and the activities of CHE and PBC to date
A. Regulation of tuition fees
B. Regulating the approval of academic programs in English and joint or dual
degree programs with institutions abroad
C Programs vis-à-vis China and India
D Participation in Erasmus Mundus / Erasmus +
E. The establishment of the 'STUDY IN ISRAEL' website
6. Activities of other significant bodies at the national / regional level
7. International comparisons
8. Appendix I - International programs in Israel
9. Appendix II - Israeli student data
A. 2014 CBS data - foreign students in academic programs
B. Data of present situation as reported by the relevant institutions in Israel
C. Data of students who arrived from India and China through the PBC
program
D Mobility data of Erasmus Mundus and Erasmus +
E Data of academic students who reach Israel through "Masa"
10. Appendix III - Snapshot of the world
A International data of PROJECT ATLAS 2015
B. Data of OECD - EDUCATION AT A GLANCE
22
1. Background - International Students as part of "Internationalization in Higher
Education"
The topic of international students is only one in of a list which falls under the heading
Internationalization in Higher Education.
A global institution for higher education has a number of characteristics – variety in the
composition of its student body, variety in the composition of its academic staff,
congruence between the qualifications it confers on its students and a global-academic
world as well as the labor market (namely, adaptation of its syllabus, teaching language,
use of technologies, etc.), adaptation of the services it offers to students based on their
countries of origin, cooperative teaching with other academic institutions worldwide
(student exchange agreements, joint and dual degree programs, lecturers exchanges,
partnerships in international projects for the enhancement of the quality of teaching,…) and
in the case of a research institute – research cooperation as well (joint research, research
infrastructure sharing, partnerships in international research projects, etc.) with researchers
and other research institutions worldwide.
There is no doubt that in order to successfully and consistently attract and recruit
international students, the institution must make resources available (including dedicated
personnel) to support and promote this issue, deal with all aspects of the matters discussed
herein and adopt a holistic and consistent approach, while specifically adapting its
definition to this task.
Preliminary note: in this document – unless specifically stated otherwise – the term
"international students" will refer to academic students who take (full or partial) first,
second or third degrees, shorter academic programs, or post-doctorates (although the latter
may more aptly be described as researchers rather than students).
2. QUANTITATIVE SNAPSHOT
A. Provision of academic programs in English to international students
From a survey of the sites of the various institutions and conversation with relevant
contacts in those institutions, the picture that emerges shows that in Israel today has:
- 13 fully active programs for a full Bachelor's degree in English, of them 7 in
colleges (6 in the Interdisciplinary College (IDC) Herzliya and one in LEV
Institute) and 6 in three Universities: 2 in the Technion, two in Tel Aviv and 2 in
Ben Gurion University (BGU). Next year an additional program is scheduled to be
opened at the Technion (registration is already open); additionally the Hebrew
University has already been granted approval (within the framework of the bridging
year to the next five year plan) to open a program for an international Bachelor's
degree.
23
- 65 active programs for a full Master's degree in English - most of these are
Master's degrees of one or two years without a thesis, a few are Master's degrees
with thesis. These types of programs are being offered by all the Universities as
well as by the IDC Herzliya. We should mention that this count is a somewhat
problematic as there are areas within these institution where the whole program is
converted into English if an international student is registered to it, and therefore
some institutions consider it appropriate to include these programs in the list of
English programs (for example BGU takes this approach).
- Dozens of summer programs and short term programs - all the Universities and
many colleges offer summer courses or short programs that are designed for
international students (in English and in Hebrew). These differ in their standards
(for Bachelor's degrees or graduate degrees) and target populations. Here too there
is a certain lack of clarity as many of the institutions allow their students to choose
and take courses in English from the variety of English language courses offered by
the institution and by so doing actually tailor a personal program for themselves.
Additionally, it should be noted that there are international students who study within the
institution's regular programs conducted in the Hebrew language; and there are institutions
that offer undergraduate courses which are converted to English when an international
student is registered, and which are not counted here (for example, Bar-Ilan University).
Moreover, in the Weitzman Institute all programs for the Master's degree and doctorate are
in conducted in English and are offered to Israeli students as well as to international
students. Consequently, these programs are not counted here.
The detailed list of Bachelor's degree and Master's degree programs appears in
Appendix A
In terms of the variety of fields of study offered by the programs, there are a number of
distinct significant groups:
(A) Business management, economics and entrepreneurship, governance and diplomacy
(B) Engineering, STEM in general (science, technology, engineering and mathematics),
ecology and agriculture
(C) Medicine and medical sciences (with an emphasis on emergency medicine)
(D) Languages – especially Hebrew and Arabic
(E) Local studies - religion - Judaism, history - Israel, Holocaust studies, Middle-East,
conflict resolution, etc.
(F) Liberal and social arts and others (literature, psychology, communication, liberal
arts)
B. The numbers and distribution of international students in Israel
In order to assess the number of international students in Israel and classify them according
to different characteristics, we carried out two complimentary tests:
- Using 2014 CBS data - the CBS counts academic students taking undergraduate,
graduate and doctorate degrees, who do not hold Israeli citizenship, and who
24
resided in the country on the date of the count (in the beginning of the second
semester). Therefore, students who come for short periods of less than a year are
not included in this count on that day. The data shows 4,500 international
students in the year 2014; these are segmented according to their institution, degree
and country of origin.
This number constitutes approximately 1.7% of the total number of students in
Israel, apart from the Open University.
- Conversations with appropriate bodies in the principal relevant institutions: 7
research Universities and the IDC Herzliya (according to the CBS data, in 2014
84% of the international students were located in these 8 institution).20
Naturally the reliability and accuracy of this data depends on the count made by
each institution, and the limits of its data collection (a repeatable problem is the
count of Jews who make Aliya and then becomes Israeli citizens). Within this data
we included students taking full degrees, as well as students who come for short
periods and post-doctoral students. In some instances the institutions did not have
accurate data for the numbers of international students (without Israeli citizenship)
out of the total number of students registered in the international programs and
therefore estimates had to be made. The data points to a total of 10,000 international
and post-doctoral students in the last year in these institutions – among them
approximately 9,000 students and 1,000 post-doctoral students.
If we assume that these are about 84% of the total number of international students
in Israel (as emerges from the CBS data), then we arrive at a number of 12,000
international students in all Israel, constituting approximately 4.6% of the total
number of students in Israel excluding the Open University.
Distribution of international students in Israel:
In order to understand who are the international students who come to Israel today, their
motives and the chief issues hampering them, we decided to classify them according to
their principal motive for coming to the country: (A) "academic experience" – short period
students (study abroad, summer courses, Erasmus+, student exchange programs and other
short term programs); (B) full academic studies – students seeking a full undergraduate
20 It is worth noting a few additional institutions which are interesting in terms of the
international connection: LEV Institute that accommodates international students,
particularly Jews from France, and who take various programs conducted in the
Hebrew language (most are Ulpan graduates) or undergraduate degrees which are
conducted in English (Business Management); Bezalel that accommodates between
70 - 80 international students from a variety of countries, especially from Europe
and the USA; Shenkar that hosts a few dozen international students a year mainly
for a semester during the undergraduate degree; Ariel University which offers an
Engineering program for international students where the first year includes studies
in English and an intensive Hebrew Ulpan and where later the students join the
regular program in Hebrew.
25
degree, full Master's degree without thesis, or an academic preparatory program; (C)
research – Master's degree students with thesis, doctoral and post-doctoral students.
In addition, we chose to classify the arriving students into two groups - Jews and
general – primarily because these two groups differ greatly in their motives for
coming to Israel, the issues hampering them, and subsequently – the evaluation of
the potential of each group. It should be mentioned that most of the institutions do
not possess accurate data regarding these issues and therefore in many cases a rough
estimate had to be performed. Consequently, one has to regard this data with the
appropriate caution.
The emerging snapshot of all 8 institutions is (the numbers were rounded in tens):
Principal Objective Jews General Total Percentage
500 1,710 2,210 22%
Research 2,980 1,030 4,010 40%
Full Time
Study 1,890 1,960 3,850 38%
Academic
Experience 5,370 4,700 10,070
Total 53% 47%
Percentage
A few interesting conclusions may be drawn here (some are reflected in the numbers set out
in the table, and some in the underlying numbers that appear in the appendix):
(A) A large number of students arrive strictly for the "academic experience", of these
about 40% come for summer courses.
(B) Of the students who arrive for a full study program, more than 35% arrive for the
full Master's degree program without thesis, and about 50% for the full
undergraduate program; however, this picture is created by joining two very
different components - whereas in the Universities there are relatively small
numbers of students who take a full undergraduate program (only 30%) and many
who take Master's degrees without a thesis (about 45%) and preparatory academic
programs (about 25%), in the IDC Herzliya a very large number of international
students take undergraduate degrees (57% out of the total 8 institutions which were
examined).
(C) Jews comprise approximately half of the total number of international students in
Israel; however, among those who come to take a full study program, Jews form a
distinct majority (about 75%) while among those who came for research purposes
the Jewish presence is small (less than 25%).
From the CBS data one can perform an extrapolation and state that the majority of students
arrive from the USA (above 40%), and from Europe (about 30%, particularly from France,
Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom). However, among those who come in order to
conduct research in Israel significantly more come from Asia and Europe.
The 2014 CBS data regarding fields of study of international students (I, II, III degrees)
who arrive in Israel, also shows that:
26
- For undergraduates, the most sought after domain is social sciences (slightly more
than a third of the students) which is studied almost entirely in the colleges (a large
portion is business management); followed by natural sciences and mathematics (a
little less than a third of the students) – primarily the physical sciences which are
taught mainly in the Universities, followed by liberal arts (about 17%) and
engineering (about 13%).
- In the Master's degree programs the leading domain is medicine and para-medical
professions (about 30%) taught of course in the Universities, followed by liberal
arts (about 30%) which are taught mainly in the Universities, followed by social
sciences (about 25%) taught in the Universities and in colleges (more in the
Universities).
- Doctorates, the leading domain is natural sciences (about 45%) and in particular
biology (about 30%) followed by liberal arts (about 32%).
It should be noted that it is highly probable that this snapshot may have changed since
2014.
It is also interesting to note the differences between all the institutions that were examined:
The level of internationalization – measured as a percentage of the international students
among the general student population, differs greatly in the various institutions. We will
use two different indexes because of the nature of the data available to us:
Index A: The number of international students in the institution according to the CBS
(undergraduates, Master's, Doctorate counted on a certain date in the second
semester);
Index B: The total number of international students reported by the institution in that
year (Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, PhDs, post-doctorates and short
periods) out of the total body of students in the institution (according to the
CBS) and the post-doctorates (according to the institution's report)
The percentage of INDEX (A) INDEX (B)
international students
within the institution 10% 24%
IDC Herzliya 6% 27%
Weizmann Institute 5% 12%
Hebrew University 3% 8%
Tel-Aviv University 3% 8%
Technion 2% 5%
Haifa University 2% 4%
Ben-Gurion University 1% 3%
Bar-Ilan University
27
The relative contribution of the international students in Israel, according to the various
classifications (each column adds up to 100%):
Hebrew Percentage Academic Full Research Jews General
Weizmann of Total Experience Study
Tel-Aviv 25% 33% 17% 26% 18% 33%
Technion 4% 0% 0% 17% 2% 6%
Bar-Ilan 21% 25% 22% 11% 25% 17%
Ben 11% 12% 7% 17% 3% 20%
Gurion 8% 3% 12% 9% 12% 3%
Haifa 7% 7% 3% 14% 5% 9%
IDC
Herzliya 8% 15% 3% 6% 7% 9%
16% 5% 35% 0% 28% 2%
We can see that:
- The IDC Herzliya is the most international institution in Israel and also contributes
the greatest number of international students to the "full studies" group as well as to
the Jewish students group.
- The Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University are the institutions with the largest
number of international students, with the Hebrew University leading with the
"academic experience" classification and with research, as well as leading in the
number on students it contributes to the "general" group (as mentioned there is a
correlation between these and the "research" group).
Characteristics of students according to institution
It is also interesting to view the segmentation of the international students within each
specific institution. The data is shown in Appendix II in section 9.B. We mention here the
interesting insights relevant to each institution:
- In Tel-Aviv University an emphasis is placed on the international Master's program
without thesis (non-budgetary) largely comprising Jewish students of medicine (the
Sackler program). There is also an additional emphasis on summer courses. A
relatively large portion of the international students are Jewish.
- In the Hebrew University there is no full undergraduate program or Master's degree
program with thesis for international students at all. There are approximately one
hundred students taking a full undergraduate degree who attend the regular
programs and approximately 42 full Master's degree students with thesis attending
the regular programs. There are a large number of international post-doctoral
students attending classes in Hebrew (about a quarter of these in Israel), one third of
these come from India and China, with an emphasis on an academic preparatory
programs (mainly for Jewish students) and short programs for general students.
28
- The Technion puts a special emphasis on activities carried out in its international
school - especially through the full undergraduate degree program and summer
courses (all of which are non-budgetary). Among the international students there is
no special focus on Jewish students.
- The Weizmann Institute is by character an international institution and all students
who attend are research oriented. It has a particularly large number of international
post-doctoral students (about a quarter of those in Israel), 45% of whom come from
India and China. There is no special focus on Jewish students.
- In Haifa University there is a large number of students who come for the summer
courses (as Jewish and as general students) - these also seem to be the most
profitable programs for that institution.
- In BGU (Ben-Gurion University) the special focus of international students is
research purposes (all levels) and the 4 year degree in medicine for Americans (a
non-budgetary program).
- In Bar-Ilan University most of the international students are Jewish (in the range of
85%), where a large proportion, like the majority of the general students, come to
study in the Faculty of Jewish Studies. Most are integrated into the regular
programs and there is not much activity dedicated to international students taking a
full degree or those coming for short periods.
- At the IDC Herzliya considerable focus is placed on the Jewish students (who arrive
as individuals from a variety of countries) as well as on a full undergraduate degree
program.
3. QUALITATIVE SNAPSHOT - INDICATIONS
While we do not have survey data which represents the international students who have
studied or are currently studying in Israel, we can set out the following soft characteristics
from conversations conducted with such students, from feedback forms filled out21 by
students from India and China studying in Israel, and following a wide ranging survey
conducted among the international students currently attending the Hebrew University:22
- Most of the students had at least a single connection to Israel before they arrived
to study in the country: in most cases they had previously visited Israel, they had
friends or family in Israel. This phenomenon manifest itself more strongly in Jewish
students or students who come for short periods. A large portion of students who
21 The feedback forms were edited by Emma Afterman, Director of the Israel-Asia
Relations Desk in CHE / PBC
22 The survey was conducted by the The Knowledge Partnership, an international
research company within the framework of a strategic study conducted on this
subject for the Hebrew University and for the Jerusalem Municipality; it included
288 international students studying at the Hebrew University from 55 different
nations.
29
come for full degree study programs were previously in a summer course in Israel
or in some other sort of short program.
- The principal attraction of study in Israel and study in the specific institution
was to gain some sort of international experience, the reputation of the institution, a
specific interest in Israel (religion, language, history, etc.) - among students who
came for a short period of study, and quality of teaching and research - among the
students for graduate studies / post-doctorates.
- Generally, the students learned about the Israeli institution which they chose to
attend, through a personal recommendation (by a friend, family member, teacher,
etc.). Many continued to learn about the institution from blogs of other students who
attended studies in Israel or through conversation with them. This is generally true
of all levels of study but particularly for the Master's degree programs.
- In most cases the decision to study in Israel did not meet objections on the part of
friends or family members. Generally, negative responses related to safety/security
issues which were more prevalent among research students and post-doctoral
students.
- Students favorably emphasized the security on campus and surrounding area,
relationships with the lecturers and staff and generally the quality of the program.
- Students emphasized as points for improvement exposure to Israeli students (in
cases where they studied in separate programs); economic issues - the problem of
working permits for themselves and their spouse during their studies, the need for
cost of living scholarships, difficulties with foreign banks that do not provide loans
for education in Israel; accessibility to health services; the possibility of engaging in
local internships and obtaining work experience in their field in Israel. Some of the
Chinese students indicated language problems in the course of their studies in
English; Indian and Chinese students indicated the difficulty in cultural gaps;
students who came here for short periods indicated sometimes that the programs
were too intensive.
The heads of the international schools in Israel indicated a few trends which they had
observed:
- A lessening in the number of students coming from the USA for a long "study
abroad" program - of one year or even one semester; instead it seems that there is a
preference for even shorter academic periods (especially for summer courses) or for
non-academic experiences in Israel (such as "Taglit" - Discovery), and there is great
demand for programs that offer internships.
- An increase in the awareness of Chinese students about the possibility of studies in
Israel and increased interest on the part of good Chinese students in this regard.
- An increase in the interest of Indian and Chinese institutions to undertake joint
projects with Israeli institutions, a tendency that may influence the possibility of
recruiting more good students from those countries.
30
4. TREATMENT OF THIS ISSUE BY THE INSTITUTIONS
Based on the conclusions emerging from the above data, it seems that there is considerable
variation in the treatment and approach to this subject adopted by the various institutions in
Israel.
The 7 research Universities as well as the IDC Herzliya have received a relatively large
number of international students during the past years; they carry out a variety of dedicated
programs for these international students; all operate an international office or an
international school and maintain some sort of policy on this subject at the institution's
managerial level. In recent years some institutions have tried to encourage the opening of
courses in English for Israeli students as well – naturally, motivated by academic reasons –
however, the outcome of such a policy has been that the range of English courses offered
by the institution has become broader and allowed international students to attend these
short study periods more often; over time this has allowed the construction of entire
programs in English. These 8 institutions are operating in a number of channels (sometimes
in an opportunistic way) - marketing of the institution is directed at single students; targeted
marketing directed at students groups in accordance with a particular benefit; work with
specific institutions worldwide in order to bring groups by way of programs such as "study
abroad" for student exchange, the Erasmus+ program; faculty led programs; the initiation
of joint programs or joint degrees with a foreign partner institution23 and more. Usually, the
institutions are also active in raising scholarships for a portion of these international
students. Among the Universities there are those where the majority of the international
students are integrated within the institution's budgeted program (Haifa University, BGU,
Bar-Ilan University and the Weizmann Institute) and those where the majority of such
students may be found in specific non-budgetary programs (Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv
University and the Technion).
In contrast, most of the colleges in Israel as well as Ariel University do not engage in any
significant way in the subject of internationalization, and those which do, have only
recently begun to think about internationalization in a significant manner and establish
mechanisms to encourage and advance international ties. We are referring mainly to
institutions where there is a president or rector who attach great importance to this issue
and promote it. For example, in the framework of the Tempus program, 2012 saw the IRIS
project winning - its goal being the promotion of internationalization in the budgeted
colleges in Israel. The partners in this project are ORT Braude Academic College of
Engineering, the Sapir Academic College, Al-Qasemi - Academic College of Education,
the Kaye Academic College of Education, the Beit Berl Academic College, Shenkar -
College for Design and Engineering, the Max Stern Emek Yezreel - Academic College and
Tel-Aviv University. The project funded the establishment of an international office in
every one of these colleges, including guidance regarding the development of strategic
23 A few examples of this are Bar-Ilan University and Yeshiva University USA
(summer program), Tel-Aviv University and NYU - the Sackler Medical Program,
Haifa University actively working with Warsaw University.
31
internationalization programs. Despite the progress of the colleges in this regard,
international activity is still new and in order to strengthen international ties, some of the
partner institutions have submitted a proposal for funding of an additional project for the
continuation of the development and enhancement of their international ties - a proposal
that was awarded funding within the framework of the Erasmus+ project.24
There are a few colleges which have not participated in these projects, but where the
management is pursuing the internationalization of the institution, international offices have
been established and the management is actively pursuing and promoting international ties
by submitting proposals for funding of mobility and other projects within the framework of
Erasmus+ and also by translating courses into English.
From conversations with the relevant bodies in Universities engaged in substantial dealings
with international students in Israel, it is clear that even there handling and support for
these students is less than optimal:
- Institutional Policy: in the majority of these institutions there is no organized
policy on the part of the institution's management concerning internationalization
issues in general or international students' issues in particular; the institution's
motivation or the concrete goals to which it aspires.
- In continuation of this same non-policy - in many institutions there is no firm
commitment at the managerial level to the development of this issue, and in many
cases officials within the organization, such as the heads of the international
schools, have invested considerable energy just attempting to pursue other officials,
and attract them to the cause (management, faculty and individual lecturers).
- Work procedures and the managerial hierarchy dealing with this matter are not
always coherent and organized within the institutions. Sometimes, leading this
matter in parallel are the head of the international school, the rector and his office
and/or a relevant VP, who do not always work in sync or cooperate. Occasionally,
some of the international students are cared for by one body and others by a second
body (with no clear regulations or standards for taking care of the students), and
sometimes different bodies within the institution even have contradictory economic
interests or compete against each other (cannibalization of students).
- There are institutions where the management does not currently have the
resources to direct units within the institution on how to establish programs or
build courses for international students, or where the courses or faculties are highly
autonomous. In many cases this coincides with the fact that the economic interest in
recruiting international students may be found at the course or faculty level or that
no such interest exists at all.
- A significant number of institutions have not properly adapted themselves to
caring for international students - for example, the registration system in the
institution does not allow for registration or handling in English, forms, letters and
E-mails are written solely in Hebrew, there is a lack of organized information and
support for the student prior to his arrival, there is a lack of common central
24 This information is from the Erasmus+ office in Israel.
32
services for students (for example – for opening a bank account or help with health
insurance), a lack of orientation programs upon arrival or social or academic events
for the international students during their stay, and sometimes a lack of exposure to
Israeli students (when separate program are operated).
- In many institutions even if it is possible to provide data upon request regarding the
international students, there is no orderly monitoring of the institution's overall
data or proper segmentation of it.
5. THE APPROACH AND ACTIVITIES OF CHE AND THE PBC TO DATE
While CHE/PBC has not yet been required to formalize a policy addressing the issue of
international students, points of interest have been discussed and resolved in the past. We
set out a list of decisions and significant actions below:
5A REGULATION OF TUITION FEES
Currently, international students study in higher education institutions or within budgeted
programs (in budgeted institutions) or in programs within a non-budgeted framework (in
budgeted institutions or in non-budgeted ones).
In the first case, PBC does not distinguish in practice between the international students and
Israeli students and subsidizes them within the framework of the budgetary model. The
limitations on the PBC in terms of collecting tuition fees were determined in 1996 by the
Meltz committee which dealt with levels of tuition fees and mechanisms for providing
monetary assistance to students in institutions for higher education. The committee stated
that "foreign students…will pay a tuition fee 25% higher than the one set in clause C"
(section B.4). The limitations were not determined within the framework of an overall
perspective concerning objectives in this regard, and in any case they are not necessarily
relevant to current market prices.
The committee examining non-budgeted programs (the Grunau Committee, 2015) which
submitted its conclusions to the PBC on the 10th of June 2015, deliberately avoided
considering the issue of programs designated for international students, as the gamut of
considerations there is different from those applicable to non-budgeted programs which
address Israeli students.
In practice the tuition fees collected by the institutions for these programs is usually close
to the maximum allowed.
With regard to the second case of non-budgeted programs there is of course no regulation,
and there is a great variance in the level of tuition fees between the institutions that conduct
these international programs.
One must note that from conversations with the heads of the international schools at the
institutions, there is sometimes a lack of clarity in these institutions concerning the amount
of tuition fees which may be charged for the international programs, commensurate with
the guidelines of CHE – PBC and the latter's future policy on this matter (including the
33
continuation of subsidies for international students in the budgeted programs), and this
matter causes hardship particularly for institutions recently developing this field. In
addition, in some institutions the internal policy is unclear regarding the specific unit
supposed to "benefit" from the profits, if any, gained from activities designated for
international students. Where does that money go - to the department or to the unit, or
perhaps they enter the institution's general resources budget?
5B REGULATING THE APPROVAL OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS IN
ENGLISH AND JOINT OR DUAL DEGREE PROGRAMS WITH
INSTITUTIONS ABROAD
CHE has reached a number of decisions on this matter, which are intended to regulate these
issues and thereby help the institutions develop programs in English with joint/dual
degrees:
i) Joint or dual degree programs - guidelines for joint programs between
institutions for higher education in Israel and institutions of higher education
abroad (The Chang committee) - the decision of the Council of March 5, 2013: in
its session of March 5, 2013, CHE reached a resolution regulating the submission of
new requests and the approval of existing programs and adopted the
recommendations of the committee concerning academic guidelines for cooperative
programs between institutions of higher education in Israel and abroad, with some
changes.
ii) Resolution number 534/12 dated September 10, 2013 regarding the conversion of
study program to a foreign language – in practice this resolution entrenched a
procedure for approving and ratifying new or existing study programs in a foreign
language (the submission of the request, general guidelines for examining the
request, and transition provisions).
iii) Resolution of the CHE (number 1214/12) dated June 30, 2015 - clarifications
regarding the procedure for approving and ratifying new or existing study
programs in a foreign language (CHE resolution dated September 10, 2013); it
was resolved to make the following clarification of the procedure:
An institution will be allowed to submit a request to maintain a foreign language
study program that constitutes a translation or conversion of a parallel study
program in Hebrew which has been approved by CHE, provided that the
existing Hebrew program has at minimum temporary approval.
The period of approval of the foreign language program will be the same as the
period of approval of the existing Hebrew study program.
An extension of the period of approval of the foreign language program will be
examined together with the existing Hebrew study program.
We reiterate our approach that the program in the foreign language will not
come at the expense of the existing Hebrew study program and will not impair
it.
34
5C PROGRAMS VIS-A-VIS INDIA AND CHINA
During the 2012-2013 academic year PBC began coordinating with the Ministry of
Finance, regarding the implementation of a comprehensive three year program for the
development of academic ties with China and India and the strengthening of Israel's
academic position worldwide. The program was established as part of the governmental
effort to strengthen bilateral relations between China and India and Israel. This program is
intended to strengthen international academic cooperative efforts in general and deepen
academic ties with India and China in particular. Presently, following the culmination of
three successful years, PBC and the Ministry of Finance are evaluating the program in
order to determine how it will continue over the next three years.
The program currently promotes two parallel activities:
1. Joint research grants: Fostering research cooperation between scientists from Israel
China and India, by awarding joint research grants between the ISF - Israeli Science
Fund and its equivalent fund in China - NSFC and between the ISF and its
equivalent fund in India - UGC.
2. Programs to encourage the recruitment of outstanding post-doctoral and other
students:
A) Scholarships for outstanding post-doctoral students from India and China in
Israeli Universities: 100 three year scholarships for outstanding post-
doctoral students from China and India were awarded between 2003 and
2005. In the academic year 2006, the number of scholarships dropped to 40
as a result of budgetary cuts.
B) A study program for outstanding students from China for undergraduate
and graduate degrees: Up to 40 scholarships for undergraduate and 60
scholarships for graduate degrees were awarded to Chinese students between
the years of 2003 and 2006 and for students from India starting in 2005 (as a
result of low demand on the part of the Chinese students). Between those
years 8 undergraduate and Master's degrees programs were established, by
awarding grants to the chosen institutions to establish such programs, recruit
students and perform marketing and advertising in China.
C) A study program for outstanding students from China and India for summer
courses in Israel: Between the years of 2003 and 2006 up to 250
scholarships were awarded each year to Chinese and Indian students who
participated in summer courses of a month to two months in Israel in a
variety of fields. This year the number will increase to 500.
The full data concerning the numbers of students arriving in Israel from China and India as
part of this program appears in Appendix II section 9C.
In addition, the professional team in CHE/PBC conducts complimentary activities in order
to leverage academic channels of cooperation between the various countries, such as
35
participating in educational fairs in China, promoting cooperation with the Chinese
scholarship Fund - CSC and vis-à-vis the Indian Ministry of Science and more.
5D PARTICIPATION IN ERASMUS MUNDUS / ERASMUS+
Israel is a participating country in the EU programs that relate to the mobility of students
and faculty. During the years of 2007-2013 the program was called Erasmus Mundus and
from 2015 the program has been called Erasmus+.
The general goal of the Erasmus Mundus program was to increase mobility and cooperation
in the field of higher education within Europe and countries outside of Europe, with an
emphasis on academic quality. Israel was a participating country in this program. The
program ended at the end of 2013, however, many projects of Erasmus Mundus are still
active. The program is based on three activities:
Activity 1 Cooperative programs for Master's and PhD degrees that include a number
of institutions of higher education in Europe and outside Europe, where the
degree which is awarded at the conclusion of the study is a dual/joint degree.
The EU provides financial support for the institutions participating in these
programs to cover the expenses incurred as well as scholarships for students
from all over the world who attended these programs.
Activity 2 Partnerships between institutions of higher education in Europe and outside
of Europe that supported student mobility (at all levels), faculty and
researchers in various educational fields. As part of this activity the EU
provides financial support for the institutions participating in these programs
to cover the expenses incurred in its implementation as well as scholarships
for students, faculty and researchers. Projects that are active in Israel: EDEN
and EMAIL.
Activity 3 Projects to advance European higher education and increase the
attractiveness of Europe as a center of academic excellence.
127 students and faculty members arrived in Israel from Europe within the framework of
the Erasmus Mundus program during the years 2007 - 2013. The detailed data can be found
in Appendix II section 9D.
As noted, Israel is a member of the Erasmus+ program which began in 2015, a program
that incorporates and replaces seven programs of the EU (among them the Tempus and the
Erasmus Mundus programs) in the fields of education, guidance and youth. The program is
composed of three main activities and aims to promote international cooperation in general,
and cooperation with partner countries in particular, in the fields of youth in higher
education. One of the activities conducted within the framework of the program is activity
1 - Learning Mobility of Individuals that enables (A) Credit Mobility - student and staff
mobility within the various disciplines of education; and (B) Joint Master's Degrees -
development of joint programs for Master's degree between the various institutions of
higher education in Europe and worldwide, where the degree awarded at the completion of
the study will be a dual/joint degree.
36
Data regarding the numbers of students and staff awarded mobility grants within Israeli
institutions during the two years starting from June 2015 until June 1, 2017 appears in
Appendix II section 9D.
Within the framework of the Erasmus+ program a forum of experts in higher education was
established in Israel, HERE (Higher Education Reform Experts), which is involved, among
other things, in the promotion of internationalization in higher education in Israel with an
emphasis on the study and application of European practices.
One must note further that within the framework of the EU programs, financing exists for
joint projects for the promotion of higher education in member countries, guided by the
principals of the Bologna agreement. One of the subjects that was promoted through the
various projects in Israel within this framework was the equivalency of study credit points
vis-à-vis the European system that uses the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) and
which is based on Learning Outcomes. We must emphasize that only a few institutions
have adopted this practice in a meaningful manner.
5E THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 'STUDY IN ISRAEL' WEBSITE
For a while the professional team of CHE/PBC has been promoting the construction of an
internet site that will collate all the useful data pertaining to academic higher education in
Israel needed by prospective international students. The site will contain data about the
various academic programs offered in Israel, data about the system for higher education in
Israel and about all aspects of living in Israel, the process of registration and arrival in
Israel etc.
6. ACTIVITIES OF OTHER SIGNIFICANT BODIES AT THE NATIONAL /
REGIONAL LEVEL
Beyond the institutions and CHE/PBC, there are other national and regional bodies that are
active in promoting the recruitment of international students to Israel. Among these one
must note:
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is actively pursuing the promotion of
international academic ties, initiates the hosting of academic delegations to Israel,
awards scholarships to international students who arrive for studies in Israel and
assists CHE/PBC and the institutions with issues of branding and marketing;
- The MASA Company - a company which is the product of a mutual venture
between the government of Israel and the Jewish Agency; it coordinates long term
programs in Israel, of between one semester and a year, for Jewish youth from the
Diaspora; awards scholarships and grants to the members participating in the
program based on the country of origin and their economic status. Some of the
programs are academic. The company's focus is on bringing Jewish students to
Israel.
- TEL AVIV GLOBAL: This is an initiative of the Tel-Aviv municipality which aims
to place the city and greater Tel Aviv as a global center and hub of attraction for
international students. This program assists the institutions in greater Tel Aviv and
37
its periphery and also operates an internet site "studyintelaviv.com" where one may
find information on studies that are offered in greater Tel-Aviv and about living
there.
- Study in Jerusalem: This is an initiative of the Jerusalem municipality together with
the heritage office of Jerusalem and the Authority for the Development of
Jerusalem, designed to promote the arrival of international students to study in
Jerusalem. The venture operates an internet site "studyinjerusalem.org" where one
can find relevant information about the matter.
- Israel Asia Center - a nonprofit organization with the goal of building a joint future
for Israel and Asia through leadership programs for outstanding Asian students in
Israel.
- BTC (The National Bologna Training Center) - a body seeking to promote the
exposure of Israeli institutions of higher education to the Bologna agreement by
disseminating knowledge and promoting discourse on the matter in the Israeli
academic arena. The BTC operates under the auspices of the division of European
Society and Political Studies in Ben-Gurion University.
There are of course more bodies which award scholarships to PhD students and post-
doctoral students who come to Israel, to which we have not referred above.
7. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
Appendix 10 sets out a collection of data about international students in other countries
worldwide. We would like to point out a number of interesting observations with respect to
the typical situation in other countries and compare them to the situation in Israel:
- In most countries, the greatest numbers of international students come from China
or from the neighboring countries (when we deal with Europe or South America).25
In Israel the largest number of international students come from the USA.
- The OECD average is that 9% of the students in the country are international
students. This ratio is much higher than the ratio in Israel by any measure.
- In the majority of countries within the OECD the highest ratio of international
students are in the PhD programs, lower in the Master's degree programs and lowest
in the undergraduate programs. In Israel - in the Universities, the highest number of
international students are usually in the Master's degree programs, then in PhD
programs and the smallest numbers are in undergraduate degree programs. When
we examine total activity together with the IDC Herzliya, it seems that in the whole
of Israel there are more undergraduate international students, followed by students
for Master's degrees and even less (smallest numbers) for PhD.
25 Ireland is exceptional in this regard as it receives the greatest numbers of students
from the USA and then from China.
38
39
8. Appendix 8 – International Programs in Israel
Institution Full Bachelor's Degree Full Master's Degree
Technion 1. Civil Engineering 1. Chemical Engineering
Tel Aviv University 2. Chemical Engineering 2. Start-up MBA
3. Technion American
Hebrew University (Mechanical Engineering –
not yet opened – Medical School (TeAMS)
registration has
commenced) 4. MA Archeology and
3. Electrical and Electronics History in the Land of the
Eng. Bible
4. Liberal Arts
5. MA Conflict Resolution
None and Mediation
6. MA Environmental Studies
7. MA Middle Eastern
Studies
8. MA Global Migration and
Policy
9. Msc Plant Biology with
Emphasis in Food Safety
and Security
10. MA Political Science &
Political Communication
11. MA Security and
Diplomacy Studies
12. MA Crisis and Trauma
Studies
13. MA TESOL (Teaching
English to Speakers of
Other Languages)
14. Emergency and Disaster
Management EMPH
15. International LLM
1. MBA in Entrepreneurship
and Innovation
2. M.A. in The Bible and the
Ancient Near East
3. One Year M.A. in
Nonprofit Management and
Leadership
4. One Year M.A. in Jewish
Education
5. One Year M.A. in Islamic
and Middle Eastern Studies
6. One Year M.A. in Jewish
Studies
7. Religious Studies
8. One Year M.A. in Israel
Studies
9. M.A. in Human Rights and
Transitional Justice
10. LL.M. Program in Human
Rights and International
Law
11. L.LM. in International
Business Law and
Intellectual Property
40
Haifa University None 12. 伊斯兰与中东研究硕士项
Ben-Gurion University 1. BA In Literature 目
2. BA in Linguistics
(Master of Middle East and
Islamic Studies)
13. Brain Science in Jerusalem
One-year Master Programs
1. Child Development
2. Diplomacy Studies
3. German and European
Studies
4. Global Green MBA
5. Global Health Leadership
and Administration (MPH)
6. Holocaust Studies
7. Israel Studies
8. Jewish Studies
9. Maritime Civilizations
10. Social Work (Focus on
Multiculturalism)
11. National Security Studies
12. Peace and Conflict
Management
13. Prehistoric Archaeology
Extended Master programs
14. Art Therapy
15. International Relations
(Dual degree with Warsaw
University(
16. Marine Geosciences (MSc(
17. International MBA (Focus:
Asia)
1. M.Sc. in Information
Systems Engineering
with focus on Data
Mining and Business
Intelligence (BI)
2. M.Sc. in Biomedical
Engineering
3. M.Sc. in Communication
Systems Engineering
4. M.Sc. in Chemical
Engineering
5. M.Sc./M.A. Program in
Desert Studies
6. M.Sc. in Hydrology &
Water Quality
7. M.Sc. in Mathematics
8. M.Sc. in Chemistry
9. M.Sc. in Physics
10. M.Sc. in Life Sciences
11. M.Sc. in Geological and
Environmental Sciences
12. M.A. in Israel Studies
13. M.A. in Linguistics
14. M.A. in Literature
15. The Medical School for
International Health
41
Bar-Ilan University 1. BA Business IMBA
Interdisciplinary Center Administration 1. MA Program in
Lev Institute 2. BA Business Government
Administration and 2. MA Program in Psychology:
Economics
Organizational Behavior and
3. BA Government Development (OBD).
4. BA Communications 3. MBA Business
5. BA Psychology Administration
6. BA Computer Science 4.MA Financial Economics
B.A in Business
Administration
Not including the Weizmann Institute where all the Master's degree programs are in English and
are intended for both Israeli and international students.
42
9. APPENDIX II - ISRAELI STUDENTS DATA
9A 2014 CBS DATA - FOREIGN STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
According to the CBS definition, a foreign student is one who is registered in an institution of
higher education and does not hold an Israeli ID certificate.
It must be noted that CBS data is collected on a certain date during the second semester, and
therefore does not include all the students who arrive in Israel for the summer courses or for a
period of less than one year;
According to the data and based on the aforementioned definitions about 4,500 foreign students
engaged in academic studies during 2014:
Institutional distribution:
3,200 in Universities (of these 1,800 in the Hebrew University and in Tel-Aviv University)
900 in academic colleges (of these 700 in IDC Herzliya)
400 in academic colleges of education (of these 100 in the Arab academic college for
education in Haifa, 70 in Orot Israel, 40 in Emuna and the rest were elsewhere, up to 20 in
each college)
Distribution according to degrees:
About 380 students studied within the PhD program (of these 80 from India), about 1,700
in the Master's program (of these about 1,600 in Universities and 86 in the IDC) and 2,500
within the undergraduate program.
43
Total Academic degree
Undergraduate Masters PhD Diploma
Total First year
Total 4565 2464 1226 1713 384 4
Universities - Total 3176
The Hebrew University in 1009 1200 847 1588 384 4
Jerusalem
Technion - Israel Institute 394 512 421 389 108 -
of Technology
Tel-Aviv University 812 181 55 169 42 2
Bar-Ilan University 159
438 117 60 664 30 1
The University of Haifa 278 94 46 30 35 -
272 258 124 41 1
Ben Gurion University of 65 43 203 71 -
the Negev
Weizmann Institute of 21 -- 8 57 -
Science 934
Ariel University in Samaria 12 20 4 1 --
Total - Academic Colleges 826 294 108 - -
12 11 8 1 --
Shenkar - College of
Engineering and Design 36 10 5 2 --
Bezalel Academy of Arts and
Design 79 27 8 9 --
Jerusalem Academy of
Music and Dance 6 79 31 - --
Jerusalem College of
Technology - Machon Lev 65 - --
The College of Management -
Academic Studies
44
Holon Academic Institute of 3 3 1 - --
Technology
The Academic College of 2 2 - - --
Tel-Aviv Yaffo
The Hadassah Academic 14 14 11 - --
College Jerusalem
Netanya Academic College 7 6 1 1 --
Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) 698 612 199 86 - -
Herzliya
Tel-Hai Academic College 1 1 1 - --
Sapir Academic College 2 1 - 1 --
Sami Shamoon college of 2 2 2 - --
- --
Engineering
Sha'arei Mishpat - The 5 5 3
College of Legal Studies
CLB - College of Law and 8 8 6 - --
Business
Azrieli College of 551 - --
Engineering -in Jerusalem
ONO Academic College 25 24 6 1 --
Schechter Institute of Jewish 7 - - 7 --
Studies
Kinneret College on the Sea 1 1 1 - --
of Galilee
Machon Lander 331 - --
PAC - Peres Academic 1 1 - - --
Center
Zefat Academic College 1 1 1 - --
Carmel Academic Center 1 1 - - --
Nazareth Academic 222 - --
Institute
The Israel Academic College in 1 1 1 - --
Ramat Gan
Academic Colleges for 392 379 53 13 - -
Education - Total
Herzog College at Yeshivat 14 14 2 - --
- --
Har Etzion - --
Emunah College for Arts and 42 42 5
Technology
Michlala, Jerusalem College 15 15 6
David Yellin College of 15 14 1 1 --
- --
Education - --
The College for Education, 5 5 -
Tourism, Physical Education
and Sport in "Oholo"
The College of Sakhnin for 17 17 1
Teacher Education
The Al-Qasemi Academic 12 12 - - --
College of Education 1 --
Shaanan Teachers College 8 7 1
Gordon Teachers College 13 12 3 1 --
Oranim - The School of 23 17 1 6 --
Education of the Kibbutz
Movement
Wizo Academy of Design 2 2 - - --
and Education Haifa
45
Arab Academic College of 103 103 23 - - -
Education on Israel-Haifa
Beit-Berl College (including 9 9 - - --
the Institute for the Training of
Arab Teachers) - most
programs in education and the
training of teachers, including
art teachers
Religious Teachers Training 2 2 - - --
College Givat Washington
Orot Israel College 69 68 5 1 --
Levinsky College of 871 1 --
Education - most programs in
education and the training of
teachers, including music
teachers -
http://www.levinsky.ac.il
Kibbutzim College of 10 9 1 1 --
Education (formerly: "State
Teachers College Seminar
Hakibbutzim")
Talpiot College of Education 18 18 - - --
- The State Religious College
for the Training of Teachers
Hemdat Hadarom - College 4 3 2 1 --
for Education
The Kaye College of 3 3 1 - --
Education
The Open University of Israel 63 59 32 4 - -
Distribution based on budgeted / non budgeted programs
Approximately 70% to 80% of the students are not budgeted
46
Total Academic degree
Undergraduate Masters PhD diploma
Total First year
Total 4565 2464 1226 1713 384 4
Universities and Academic 4110
Colleges - Total 2026 1141 1686 384 4
Budgeted Programs/ 1339
Budgeted Colleges 446 171 505 384 4
Non Budgeted 1911
Program/Non Budgeted 866 321 1045 - -
Colleges 860
Schools for Foreign 1200 649 146 --
Students 3,176 289
Universities - Total 1,169 197 847 1,588 384 4
Budgeted Programs 1,147 714 101 492 384 4
Non Budgeted Programs 860 97 950 --
Schools for Foreign 826 649 146 --
Students 934 157
Academic Colleges - Total 170 669 294 108 --
Budgeted Colleges 764 379 70 13 --
Non Budgeted Colleges 392 224 95 --
Academic Colleges of 59 53 13 --
Education 63
32 4 --
The Open University of Israel
47
Distribution according to country of origin
All Degrees:
Within Europe: 182 from France, 150 from Germany, 99 from Italy, 77 from the United Kingdom
Within Asia: 124 from South Korea, 105 from China, 79 from India (most for PhD's)
("unknown" - students who chose not to report their country of origin)
Distribution according to countries of origin - PhD program
Within Europe: 32 from Germany, 29 from Italy
Within Asia: 49 from India
48
("Unknown" - students who chose not to report their country of origin)
TOTAL TYPE OF ACADEMIC INSTITUTION
Universities Academic Colleges Open University Academic Education Colleges
Bachelor's Master's PhD Diploma Bachelor's Master's PhD Diploma Bachelor's Master's Bachelor's Master's Bachelor's Master's
Degree Degree Degree Degree Degree Degree Degree Degree Degree Degree
2,464 1,713 384 4 1,200 1,588 384 4 379 13
Total 4,565 3,176 934 826 108 63 59 4 392
1 - - - 1 - - - - -
ARMENIA 1 12 3 2 - 1 1 1 2 - - - - -- - - - -
CYPRUS 17 7 7 3 - 4 2 6 3 - - - -
TURKEY 17 - 2 - - 11 - 2 - - 6 - - 13 11 2 - - -
LEBANON 2 4 2 - - 2 3 2 - - - - -
JORDAN 6 1 - - - 5 - - - - 1 5 1 -- -- - -
SAUDI ARABIA 1 8 22 49 - - 7 22 49 - - - -
INDIA 79 1 - - - 78 1 - - - 1 - - -- - - - -
NEPAL 1 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - -
THAILAND 1 5 1 1 - - 2 1 1 - 1 1 - -- -- - -
SINGAPORE 7 3 2 1 - 4 2 2 1 - 3 - -
PHILIPPINES 6 1 1 - - 5 1 1 - - 1 - - 11 -- - -
TAIWAN 2 52 36 17 - 2 49 36 17 - - - -
CHINA 105 1 - - - 102 - - - - 3 1 - -- -- - -
MONGOLIA 1 87 28 9 - - 87 28 9 - 1 - -
S. KOREA 124 6 10 2 - 124 6 10 2 - - - - -- - - - -
JAPAN 18 3 9 6 - 18 2 9 6 - - - -
REST OF ASIA 18 4 1 - - 17 1 1 - - - 1 - -- -- - -
MOROCCO 5 - - 1 - 2 - - 1 - 3 - -
NIGER 1 2 6 - - 1 - 6 - - - 3 - -- -- - -
NIGERIA 8 - 1 - - 6 - 1 - - 2 - -
GHANA 1 - 1 - - 1 - 1 - - - 1 - -- -- - -
SIERRA LEONE 1 - - 1 - 1 - - 1 - - - -
EGYPT 1 2 - - - 1 - - - - - - - -- - - - -
SUDAN 2 1 - - - - 1 - - - 2 - -
CHAD 1 2 1 - - 1 - - - - - 3 - -- -- - -
ERITREA 3 5 8 2 - - 1 6 2 - 3 4 1
ETHIOPIA 15 2 2 - - 9 - 2 - - 1 1 - -- -- - -
KENYA 4 - 1 - - 2 - 1 - - 2 - -
TANZANIA 1 3 - - - 1 2 - - - - - - -- - - - -
ZIMBABWE 3 - 1 - - 2 - 1 - - 1 - -
MALAWI 1 21 2 1 - 1 8 2 1 - - - - -- - - - -
S. AFRICA 24 1 - - - 11 - - - - 13 - -
MADAGASCAR 1 1 - - - - - - - - 1 - - 11 -- - -
ANGOLA 1 2 17 3 - - 1 17 3 - 1 - -
REST OF AFRICA 22 1 1 1 - 21 1 1 1 - - 3 - -- -- - -
LITHUANIA 3 1 - - - 3 1 - - - - - -
LATVIA 1 - 2 - - 1 - 2 - - - - - -- - - - -
ESTONIA 2 1 - 2 - 2 - - 2 - - - -
BELARUS 3 8 6 6 - 2 4 5 6 - 1 2 - -- -- - -
UKRAINE 20 17 23 8 - 15 14 20 8 - 5 - -
RUSSIA 48 1 - 1 - 42 1 - 1 - 6 - - -- - - - -
MOLDOVA 2 1 - 1 - 2 - - 1 - - - -
GEORGIA 2 16 15 6 - 1 16 14 6 - 1 - - -- - - - -
POLAND 37 2 - - - 36 1 - - - 1 - -
AZERBAIJAN 2 2 1 1 - 1 - 1 1 - 1 - - -- - - - -
KAZAKHSTAN 4 6 4 - - 2 3 3 - - 2 - -
ROMANIA 10 - 1 - - 6 - 1 - - 4 2 - -- -- - -
SLOVANIA 1 2 1 - - 1 - 1 - - - -
SERBIA 3 1 3 2 - 1 - 3 2 - 2 - - -- - - - -
BULGARIA 6 4 9 - - 5 2 7 - - 1 - -
GREECE 13 27 7 2 - 9 26 7 2 - 4 2 1 -- -- - -
ALBANIA 36 49 69 32 - 35 20 67 32 - 1 - -
GERMANY 150 9 12 1 - 119 5 10 1 - 30 - 1 -- - 5 - -
AUSTRIA 22 32 6 2 - 16 13 5 2 - 6 4 -
SWITZERLAND 40 1 5 - - 20 1 5 - 15 2 - -- -- - -
CZECH 6 - 2 1 - 6 - 2 1 - - - -
SLOVAKIA 3 3 3 3 - 3 2 3 3 - - - - -- - - - -
HUNGARY 9 7 2 3 - 8 4 2 3 - 1 - -
FINLAND 12 19 4 - - 9 9 3 - - 3 1 - -- -- - -
SWEDEN 23 26 10 1 - 12 21 10 1 - 10 - -
NORWAY 37 8 5 3 - 32 3 5 3 - 5 - - -- - - - -
DENMARK 16 52 21 4 - 11 21 20 4 - 5 2 -
UNITED 77 45 29 13 - - - --
KINGDOM - 2 - - 5 2 4 - -
IRELAND 2 17 12 4 - 2 7 10 3 1 - -- -- - -
NETHERLANDS 33 32 12 3 - 19 1 10 - -
BELGIUM 47 1 - - 20 55 - 10 1 - -- -- - -
LUXEMBOURG 1 143 29 10 - 1 1 21 4 -
FRANCE 182 1 1 - 86 15 1 3 - - 11 -- - -
PORTUGAL 2 22 11 3 1 2 30 11 29 - -
SPAIN 37 52 18 29 - 30 5 15 4 - - -- - - - -
ITALY 99 11 3 4 - 74 39 3 4 2 -
REST OF EUROPE 18 65 61 4 - 12 443 58 15 - - -- - - 2 -
CANADA 130 649 741 15 - 101 13 705 1 11 -
USA 1,405 15 22 1 - 1,163 3 21 2 - - -- - - - -
MEXICO 38 8 1 2 - 35 1 1 - - -
COSTA RICA 11 1 - - - 6 1 - - 1 - -- -- - -
EL SALVADOR 1 2 - - - 1 1 - - - -
HONDURAS 2 4 2 - - 1 2 2 - 4 1 -- -- - -
GUATAMALA 6 2 - - - 3 - - - - -
VIRGIN ISLANDS 2 4 - - - 2 - - 1 3 3 -- -- - -
PANAMA 4 - - 1 - - 3 - - - -
GUADALUPE 1 24 5 - - 1 - 4 1 - - -- - - - -
VENEZUELA 29 - - 1 - 7 - - -
TRINIDAD AND 1 1 3 3 1 - -- --
TOBAGO 6 8 3 - - 8 - - -
COLUMBIA 17 3 5 - - 14 2 5 1 - 1 -- - - - -
EQUADOR 8 6 3 1 - 5 14 3 - - -
PERU 10 25 11 - - 6 2 10 1 1 - -- -- 6 -
BRAZIL 36 4 2 1 - 24 1 2 - - -
URUGUAY 7 6 2 - - 5 3 2 4 2 - -- -- - -
ARGENTINA 8 3 3 4 - 3 3 - -
CHILE 10 10 3 1 -- --
- -- --
2 - -- --
1 - -- --
2 2 -- --
1 -- --
28 2 1 1 --
4 2 -- --
14 1 1 1 -4
- - -- - -
- - -- - -
1 - -- --
3 - -- --
9 1 11 - -
5 - -- --
5 - -- --
28 1 1 1 -2
- -- - -- --
--
- 14 12 2 - - -
--
- 25 23 2 2 2
4
- -- - -- --
--
- 91 83 8 1 1 --
-2
- -- - -- -2
- 11
1 77 - -- --
--
- 25 22 3 - - --
--
- -- - 44 --
- 27 24 3 - - -
--
- 229 193 36 2 2 --
--
- 32 1 -- --
- 55 - --
- - --
- 11 - --
- 33 - --
- - --
- 44 - --
- -- - --
- 22 21 1 - -
- -- - --
- 33 - -- --
- 33 - -- --
- 44 - -- --
- 65 1 -- -6
- 22 - -- --
- 55 - -- --
- -- - -- --
49
AMERICA 33 - -- 2 2 - -- -- - -- - 11 -
UNKNOWN
AUSTRALIA 36 28 7 1 - 30 23 6 1 - 5 4 1 11 - -- -
NEW ZEALAND 3 1 1 1- - 3 1 11 - - - -- - -- -
UNKNOWN 1,287 791 375 118 3 628 178 329 118 3 271 239 32 33 31 2 355 343 12
COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN
Distribution according to fields of study (taken from CBS data 2012):
Foreign students
according to field of
study and degree,
2012
Total Total Total Bachelor's Degree Master's Degree PhD
Humanities - Total 4,467 2,529 Of which Year A:
Humanities - General 1,040 423 1,205 1,665 266
Languages, Libraries 633 184 218 525 85
and Regional Studies 104 32 114 390 59
Education and 15 50 22
Teacher Training 186 115
Art, Crafts and 33 60 4
Practical Arts 117 92
Special Studies and 56 25 -
Misc. - -
Social Sciences - - --
Total 1,283 867
Social Science 405 408 8
Business and 856 554
Management Sciences 427 313 256 294 8
Law 149 114 -
Medicine and Para- 88 55
Medical Professions - 629 65 15 32 1
Total 32 546 18
50