Internationalization of the higher education system

In a global world, having international students study at Israeli academic institutions offers many advantages: for the institutions, the Israeli students and the State of Israel. At the same time, it is very important to provide a global learning experience to the Israeli students (providing the tools and skills they need to become part of the global academic world and labor market). As part of the new program, the objective is to increase the number of international students who come to study in Israel from approximately 12,000 today (including complete degrees and short periods at the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels) to approximately 25,000 within five years. The focus will be on attracting master’s students, post-doctoral students and short-term students.

In light of this, it is expected that the number of master’s students will grow from 1,600 today to 3,000 at the end of the period. The main target audiences for master’s programs are outstanding students – Jewish and non-Jewish, from North American and the Far East – particularly China and India.

The number of PhD students is slated to grow from 800 to 1,000, and the number of post-doctoral students from 1,000 to over 2,000 in the same period. Additionally the number of students who come to Israel for short periods (summer courses, single semesters or other exchange programs) will increase from 5,000 a year today to 15,000 annually by the end of the five-year period.

The addition to the budget earmarked for bringing international students, including post-doctoral students, and the global learning experience will be NIS 300 million and the overall budget will be NIS 450 million