Abstract

The rapid development of Israel’s system of higher education in recent years has led to a sharp rise in the number of students, the establishment of new institutions certified to award degrees, and legislation and policy changes. The evolving circumstances are explored in the current article, which follows the sources, causes, and justifications for these changes. The study analyzes three major processes that occurred in Israel’s system of higher education since its reform in the early 1990s: the increase in the number of students, admission terms to the departments, and the demand for studies. The research findings indicate that it was the government’s decision to establish colleges in the early 1990s, rather than free market forces, that led to the considerable increase in enrollment for academic studies. Then again, free market forces appear to determine admission terms to the various departments in accordance with the principles of demand and supply. Furthermore, the government intervenes to regulate the supply of high-demand fields of study but does not complement this by acting to regulate demand trends, which are determined exclusively by the free will of applicants. Therefore, the research conclusion is that Israel has no clear well-formulated policy on higher education, a fact that allows the unrestrained detrimental domination of this system by free market forces.

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