An estimated 305,550 students will attend the nation’s higher education
institutions this year, up 2.3 percent from last year, according to the Council
for Higher Education’s statistics released last week.
Students in the
2012-2013 academic year, which starts on Sunday, will study in 67 academic
institutions: seven universities; 37 colleges of which 21 are public and 16 are
private; 22 colleges of education; and the Open University distance- learning
institution.
Seventy-seven percent of this year’s students are enrolled
in undergraduate programs while 19 percent are master’s degree candidates and 4%
are studying for their doctorates.
Of this year’s undergraduates, 28
percent will be studying in universities, while 54 percent chose private or
public colleges. The rest of them, 18 percent, will be studying through the Open
University, a more flexible track that allows individuals to enroll in
individual courses and not in a course of study.
This year also sees a
jump in the number of haredim in academia: 7,200 ultra-Orthodox students will
study in the 2012- 2013 academic year compared to 5,968 last year and 4,782 in
the 2009-2010 cycle.
Out of the 305,550 students this year, half are new
to higher education.