Higher education in Israel for international students

• Help in adaptation

Each undergraduate applicant undergoes a preparatory program that lasts several months. There the student gets acquainted with the culture of Israel and optionally learns Hebrew. All students can also enrol in additional courses at their university.

• Developed scientific and teaching sector

Less than 50 years after its inception, Israel has become a leader in the percentage of highly qualified specialists among the population: there are 140 scientists per 10,000 people.

• Medical universities

Technion, Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University are among the top 300 medical universities in the world. The Israeli government buys the latest generation of equipment so that students can learn how to perform complex and rare operations.

• Grants and scholarship

Israel participates in the Erasmus program. There are other scholarships for undergraduates and doctoral students — among them state, independent and university. This is how the Israeli government attracts talented students and young scientists. Doctoral students cannot combine work and study. All Ph.D. students receive a grant for research activities so that employment does not interfere with their studies. There are fewer scholarships for bachelors, and the competition is higher. They are mainly intended for new immigrants and low-income students.

• Flexible learning process

In addition to the main subjects, the student chooses additional ones. The schedule is also flexible. The applicant makes it up independently. If desired, you can set courses for summer holidays. Then the duration of studying will be reduced by the time that the student graduated in the summer.

Sam Jones

Recruitment Director for Partnership with INTO Universities (Europe and Central Asia)

What firstly should be considered when choosing a university?

It depends on the student - everyone determines the most important criteria for himself. I would advise you to take several rankings and compare them with each other, plus take into account the cost of the course, the location of the university and its scale, the percentage of graduates' employment. See where graduates continue their studies or where they go to work.

There is no free higher education in Israel. Israelis believe that studying at university should be a conscious choice, not a tribute to parents or fashion. Therefore, all students pay for their education in Israel. To do this, they earn extra money as waiters, hotel attendants or auxiliary workers in other fields, and also often prefer distance learning in Israel — it is cheaper.

The higher education system in Israel consist of three stages:

• Bachelor's degree (from 3 to 5 years);
• Master's degree (from 2 to 3 years);
• Doctoral studies (from 2 to 5 years).

In Israeli universities, the studying takes place mainly in Hebrew or Arabic. There are also English-language educational programs.

Foreign students (non-Israelis) can also receive higher education in Israel, including in English. There are significantly fewer academic programs at the latter, but in many universities English is widely used in teaching, along with Hebrew. It is allowed to perform work and tasks on it. Academic literature is most often in English.

To enrol in an Israeli university, foreign students need to fulfil several conditions:

• Take a one-year preparatory course in Israel, where applicants improve their Hebrew and knowledge in other subjects, as well as adapt to the country;
• Provide certificates confirming knowledge of English and Hebrew (or Arabic) languages;
• Provide a school certificate or an extract from the university with grades;
• Present an account statement confirming that the student has the means to study and live in Israel;
• Undergo psychometric testing;
• Collect the necessary documents, translate them into Hebrew and notarize them.

Each university can submit additional requirements for admission, so always check the information on the website of the chosen university.

• For the first academic degree (“bachelor”) the tuition fee starts from 10 thousand shekels per year;

• For the second academic degree (“master”) the cost of studying starts from 14 thousand shekels per year;

• At the preparatory program (“mechina”) the price starts from 18 thousand shekels per year.

When planning to study at an Israeli university, it is worth taking into account not only the tuition fees, but also the cost of living. Israel is a very expensive country, where one rental costs an average of $ 1,000 per month.