About us

1958

The Council for Higher Education Law was passed and the CHE was established

1972

The CHE decided to establish a budgeting committee

1977

Government Resolution 666 defined the roles of the PBC

1992

The CHE in Judea and Samaria was founded

1995

The academic colleges were given official status and authority to grant bachelor’s degrees

2002

Academic colleges were given the authority to grant master’s degrees

2003

A decision was made to perform audits to assess quality at institutions of higher education

About CHE

The Council for Higher Education (CHE) is the official authority for higher education in Israel and determines policy for the higher education system.

The CHE was founded pursuant to the Council for Higher Education Law, 1958 as an independent and unaffiliated statutory corporation.
It was established in order to separate Israel’s political system from its higher education system, to prevent interference with academic freedom.
The law defines the authority, composition and work methods of the CHE.

We will never comprise the depth and quality of our research, but we will not forgo our researchers or the value of incorporating the ultra-Orthodox community, Arab society, people of Ethiopian origin, and residents of the periphery.

CHE Chairman and Minister of Education, Naftali Bennett

The CHE Law reflects two important principles. The first is maintaining the autonomy of the institutions of higher education to finance their academic and administrative needs, within the limits of their budgets. The second defines that at least two-thirds of the council members will be elected due to their academic standing at institutions of higher education

Council composition and length of term

• The number of council members shall be no less than 19 and no more than 25.
• The Minister of Education shall serve as the council chairperson.
• At least two-thirds of the council members shall be of academic standing with institutions of higher education, as recommended by the Minister of Education and based on consultations with the recognized institutions.
Two members of the Student Union: chairperson of the union and another representative to be selected at the general assembly of the organization represented by this candidate.
• The council shall grant adequate representation to all types of recognized institutions.
Potential CHE members are presented to the President of Israel by the government, based on the recommendations of the Minister of Education, to serve for a period of five years.

About PBC

The Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) is responsible for funding the Israeli system of higher education.

The PBC defines the regular budget allocated for the academic institutions as well as their development budgets, while considering social and national needs and priorities. It strives to promote research and education in Israel and to maintain the academic and administrative freedom of all institutions.
The CHE decided to establish the PBC in 1972 and to delegate its funding authorities to the committee.
On October 14, 1975, the CHE declared that it considers the PBC to be the “committee” mentioned in Article 3 of the Council for Higher Education Law.
Thus, the CHE stated that all of its corporate functions (Article 3a of the Council Law), hiring employees and making academic appointments (Article 3c of the Council Law) and transfer of assets (Article 3d of the Council Law), would be handled by the PBC.

Our goal is to provide infrastructure for research and encourage scientific-academic excellence in order to make Israel a knowledge powerhouse (BIG DATA).

PBC Chair, Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats

Government Resolution no. 666 on June 6, 1977 declared the government’s full support for the Planning and Budgeting Committee as a subcommittee of the CHE.

Committee members:

As decided by the CHE, the Planning and Budgeting Committee consists of seven members of which five are prestigious academic figures in their respective fields. One of those five must represent a budgeted institution of higher education that is not a university and two must represent departments of economics – in the broad sense of word.
The PBC members are appointed for a period of three years by the Minister of Education, based on the recommendations of the PBC chairperson and with the approval of the CHE.