This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.

UNESCO Student Mobility Number – Israel has 14,386 students studying abroad.
CIA World Factbook – 42.84% of the population is under 24 years old.

Overview
Israel has a long tradition of academic excellence, boasting world class universities, colleges and research institutions. Israeli higher education institutions provide a diversity of academic programs in English for international students at the Bachelor and Masters degree level ranging from short-term courses to full degree programs. Israeli Institutions also welcome international students and researchers for PhD and Post-Doctoral research and assign them with leading researchers in the field. 

Today, institutions of higher education in Israel are as follows: seven state universities, one open-university, 36 academic colleges (seven regional colleges associated with universities, 29 other regional colleges) and 21 teacher training colleges. Also, there are 12 institutions that offer diploma-level programs that are recognized by the Ministry of Education, 11 art schools, and 59 technological colleges. All Israeli universities and 41 of the colleges are publicly funded, while 12 colleges are privately funded. Highlighted fields of study include Science and Engineering, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Agriculture & Sustainability, Art Design & Music, Jewish Studies. There are currently 306K students enrolled in academic institutions in Israel. The breakdown is as follows: undergraduate – 230,800, graduate – 63,400, third degree – 11,400. In the last ten years, the number of enrolled undergraduate students rose 48%, the number of graduate students grew 95% and third-degree students rose by 68%.

The Council for Higher Education (CHE) is the official authority for higher education in Israel and determines policy for the higher education system. The 2018-2019 school year will mark the 60th anniversary of the CHE and 70 years of Israeli academic excellence. In 1948, there were about 1,600 university students in Israel in three universities: The Technion, Hebrew University, and the Weizmann Institute. Since then, over the past 70 years, the Israeli academic system has grown significantly and now includes 62 institutions of higher education. The most recently published OECD report ranked Israel in second place in the world in the percentage of native citizens ages 25-64 who have post-secondary and academic education (48.5%). Engineering is now the largest program of study in Israel; one of every four students enrolled in a program of higher education in Israel studies engineering or computer science.

Unlike most countries, Israel has a mandatory military service. Therefore, all young adults serve in the military after completion of high school (men serve 3 years, women serve 2 years) between the ages of 18-22. Israeli’s look for education opportunities only after completion of the military. Unlike the US, Israelis begin their education in their early 20’s. This is after many of them spend a year abroad traveling. 

Sub-Sectors
Higher education
In 2017/2018 there were 2,327 Israeli students studying in the United States, 2.8% less than the previous year (Breakdown: 698 Undergraduate, 1,119 Graduate, 147 Non-degree and 363 OPT).

Israeli students typically apply for law, psychology, business administration, medicine, and veterinary medicine, engineering and fields that are not offered as BAs in Israel such as hotel administration, advertising, art and therapy.  Short-term or non-degree study includes fields such as English language, culinary arts, sound engineering, jazz or acting, architecture and institutions offering sports scholarships. Popular majors include: business administration, law, clinical psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, culinary arts, film, music, video editing, advertising, international relations, computer sciences, engineering, architecture, mass communications, pre-med, and life sciences. Increasingly popular is ecology, environmental sciences, make-up artistry, image consulting, drug and substance abuse counseling, and various expressive therapies.

Exchange Programs and Cooperative Agreements
There has been a growing trend by U.S. schools signing cooperative agreements with selected Israeli universities and colleges in an effort to attract graduate and post-doctoral students to their institutions and to work on collaborative research and development projects in areas of common interest.

Digital learning 
The era of the internet has allowed for access to many areas of knowledge through digital means that are not necessarily a formal classroom. To prepare for the changes, digital courses have become an effective way of improving the quality of education and the educational experience as well as a way of making education more accessible. To become a part of this global revolution, a connection was made between the edX Project, backed by Harvard, MIT, and the State of Israel through a national initiative called Digital Israel at the Ministry for Social Equality. The connection permits academic institutions in Israel to place courses appearing under the caption IsraelX on the international edX platform. Additionally, edX assisted in establishing an Israeli platform – Campus – on which courses at Israeli academic institutions may also be made accessible. The CHE will be investing NIS 120 million in the coming years, which will include grants to produce very high-level online courses. The online courses will make all of the knowledge in the system of higher education accessible to students in Israel and worldwide as well as to many populations that are not able to visit the institutions themselves. 

Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The establishment of “New Centers” for entrepreneurship and innovation on campuses in Israel is intended to allow students to take part in active learning while turning the academic institution into a place where ideas could be realized. To do so, centers for entrepreneurship and innovation will be established on campuses at which students from various disciplines can receive entrepreneurship training and can work together with lecturers and researchers along with the assistance of professional mentors to move forward important projects of significance to society, the economy, health, and more. The entrepreneurship centers will utilize the campus to create an innovative ecosystem that encourages creativity, that brings down barriers, and connects academia to industry.

Turning libraries into social and knowledge centers - The transition from books, catalogs, and periodicals to knowledge that is primarily based in digital media and the transition from private, individualized study in a quiet space during the hours that the library is open to an ecosystem of collaborative study in teams throughout all hours of the day requires a change in academic libraries. The academic libraries on the new campus will serve as incubators of creativity by making quality information (analog and digital) accessible, by their ability to be a physical center for people to meet (librarians/information scientists, students, lecturers, and researchers from a range of disciplines), and by instilling advanced digital scholarship. 

Opportunities
Today, attention in Israel has turned to secondary study and relevant accreditation; be it degree, diploma or certificate. Israelis are looking to broaden their horizons both professionally and personally and are investigating opportunities to study abroad. According to the OECD, Israel is the second most educated country in the world, which suggests that it is home to prospective international students of the highest quality. Also, Israel has the second highest number of GMAT takers per capita of any country in the world and provides the seventh largest number of takers of any country in the world, ahead of France and Germany. Best prospects for U.S. educational institutions are to offer a degree integrated with practical work experience. 

Events
Education Fairs

Resources
•    EducationUSA – Ralph Amelan, Advisor, American Center Jerusalem - Amelanrm@state.gov
•    Fulbright – Aaton Schiffman, Public Affairs Office, US Embassy Jerusalem – schiffmanex@state.gov
•    Ustudy Global LLC– David Adler, Director – david@ustudy.co.il 
•    Yeda Plus (service provider) - Test preparation courses for the TOEFL, SAT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, IELTS 

U.S. Commercial Service Contact
Karen Kelich, Commercial Assistant
U.S. Commercial Service – Israel
Email: karen.kelich@trade.gov 
Phone: 972-3-519-8508
 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.