'Student tuition to go up to NIS 15,000'

Shochat committee recommendations to be submitted to the government Monday.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
avraham shochat 88 (photo credit: )
avraham shochat 88
(photo credit: )
The tuition for university studies will rise to approximately NIS 15,000 per year, according to one of the clauses in the Shochat Committee's report, expected to be submitted to the government on Monday, Israel Radio reported. Concurrently, however, students will have more avenues through which to become eligible for tuition reductions, including partial or full scholarships and other forms of assistance. The increased tuition would be paid in installments: a down-payment of NIS 5,000, followed by the remaining NIS 10,000 which would be spread over a period of ten years. The committee will also recommend increasing the budgetary allocation to higher education studies by NIS 2-2.5 billion over a period of five years. The increase, if implemented, would compensate the higher education system for funds eroded from the budget over the last six years. While some of the committee's recommendations are expected to be implemented already in the 2007-2008 academic year, the increase in tuition is not slated to take effect before the 2008-2009 year. The committee said its recommendations would constitute a social reform which would enable every Israeli to achieve higher education. A mark of this reform is the recommendation that the number of undergraduate students would be controlled, and that the number of non-research graduate students would be reduced. A non-research masters degree can help students gain an increased salary in the job market but does not enable them to continue on to PhD studies. On the other hand, the committee will recommend granting NIS 5 million to assist 30 outstanding students each year. The money, to be divided into sums of $400,000 per student, is meant to prevent the "brain drain" phenomenon, which is viewed as an increasing threat to the future of Israel's standing in the international academic community. The committee refused to confirm or deny the leaks from the report, saying only that it would be submitted to the government in full on Monday. The implementation of the recommendations is pending government approval.