10/10/2021

Peak numbers of bachelor’s degree candidates at universities and academic colleges

The number of bachelor’s degree candidates at universities rather steadily increased until the mid-2000s, at which point their number reached 39,400. After a downward trend that ended in the middle of the last decade, the number of students in recent years began to moderately increase, until the number of candidates reached its peak in 2020-2021 – 43,910 – an increase of more than 9300 students compared to 2019-2020. 25,930 of the bachelor’s degree candidates were accepted and began their studies (60%).

A peak number of bachelor’s degree candidates was also reached at academic colleges in 2020-2021 (51,809 – an increase of almost 4000 students relative to 2019-2020). The ratio between the number of candidates that were admitted and the number of actual students who attended is increasing, and it reached 60% in 2020-2021. The most sought-after fields of study offered at academic colleges are social studies, engineering, business administration, law and computer science. Law and business administration are mostly studied at the unbudgeted colleges, and most of the social science, computer science and engineering programs are being taught at budgeted colleges. The percentage of university candidates in 2020-2021 (engineering – 22%; paramedical professions – 10%) is rather similar to the percentage of bachelor’s degree candidates at academic colleges: 19% and 8% respectively. In contrast, in the field of business and administration science and law, the percentage of academic college candidates is higher relative to their percentage at universities: business and administration science – 17% relative to 5%; law students – 10% relative to 5%.

 

The data concerning high-demand bachelor’s degree studies at universities in 2020-2021 reflect, to a certain extent, the more sought-after professions in the Israeli market. A measurement that reflects the surplus demand in a certain field is the ratio between the number of candidates and the number of people who begin to attend studies in that field. In this section we will specify the most sought-after fields of study at universities in 2020-2021 based on those indices. The data are presented in the following table:

Bachelor’s degree candidates at universities and the ratio between the number of candidates and the number of admitted students who attended their studies, 2020-2021

(By first-priority selected fields of study)

  Candidates First priority accepted Ratio between the number of candidates and number of admitted students who attended their studies
First-priority field - Total 43.910 23.942 1.8
Of which: General Medicine 2.476 526 4.7
  Architecture and Urban Construction 818 286 2.9
  Law 2.334 992 2.4
  Paramedical professions 4.470 1.984 2.3
  Industrial Engineering and Management 1.554 801 1.9
  Computer Sciences 4.373 2.280 1.9
  Electrical engineering and Electronics 2.912 1.599 1.8
  Social Work 1.153 626 1.8
  Economy 1.370 749 1.8
  Psychology 2.249 1.376 1.6
  Business Administration 579 416 1.4
  General Humanities 1.521 1.100 1.4

 

In addition to the general increase in the number of candidates, the number of candidates in most fields of study increased in 2020-2021. The most considerable increases in the number of bachelor’s degree candidates at universities were observed in the fields of engineering, architecture, and social studies. Engineering and architecture – the number of candidates grew from 7219 in 2019-2020 to 9478 in 2020-2021, with most of the increase being observed in the fields of electrical engineering and electronics, and industrial engineering and management (582 and 502, out of an increase of 2259 candidates, respectively). Social sciences – the number of candidates grew from 6757 in 2019-2020 to 8942 in 2020-2021, with most of the increase (802 out of an increase of 2185 candidates) being observed in the field of psychology. Moreover, an increase in paramedical fields was observed - from 3369 in 2019-2020 to 4470 in 2020-2021, with most of the increase being observed among nursing students (540 out of an increase of 1101 candidates). Law school – the number of candidates also grew from 1469 in 2019-2020 to 2334 in 2020-2021.

 

The highest increases in the number of bachelor’s degree candidates in the field of engineering, architecture and social sciences were also recorded at academic colleges. Engineering and architecture: the number of candidates grew from 8271 in 2019-2020 to 9701 in 2020-2021. At academic colleges, most of the increase was observed in the fields of electrical engineering and electronics, and industrial engineering and management (464 and 328 out of an increase of 1430 candidates, respectively). Social studies – the number of candidates grew from 10,716 in 2019-2020 to 11,597 in 2020-2021. Most of the increase (528 out of an increase of 881 candidates) was observed in economics. Moreover, an increase in the number of law school candidates grew from 4368 in 2019-2020 to 4950 in 2020-2021, and, in the paramedical field, from 3490 in 2019-2020 to 4011 in 2020-2021.