Report: University tuition to grow by 70 percent

Committee on higher education to recommend raising university tuition to NIS 14,800 (about $3,500), allow students to pay off sum over course of decade. Students threaten strike unless they have final say

Moran Zelikovich|Published: 07.11.07 , 09:24

The Shochat Committee for the reform of higher education is expected to recommend raising university tuition to $3,500 a year.

Sources within the committee said the committee is set to propose a payment plan that would allow students to pay a portion of the sum with the commencement of their studies and the rest over the course of a 10-year period.

The Agreement

Olmert, students sign deal on higher education’s future

Moran Zelikovich

According to compromise agreement reached following 37-day strike, tuition fees will be frozen for one year, a billion shekels will be returned over four years to higher education institutions; ‘State must see to it that the educational system realizes the younger generation’s potential,’ PM says

Olmert, students sign deal on higher education’s future

Students with financial difficulties will be offered more comfortable terms to return loans.

The committee's recommendations will be presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday. The move defies the agreement signed with student representatives which dictates the committee's recommendations first be discussed with the students and only presented to the prime minister with the approval of both sides.

However, in accordance with the agreement, the tuition will not be raised this coming academic year.

The proposed tuition is 70 percent higher than the current one, which stands at $2,000.

The committee also adopted an Australian model suggested by Education Minister Yuli Tamir, which allows students to pay an initial sum of about $1,000 at the beginning of the school year and pay back the rest to the State over the course of a decade.

The committee is expected to propose a significant increase in State funding for student loans and scholarships. Students with low-paying jobs after their schooling will be exempt from returning some or all of their loans.

The committee's decision to raise the tuition and submit its recommendations to the government without the approval of the students will likely spur the student body to return to the streets in protest, as they did several months ago.

'These are only recommendations'

National Student Union chairman, Itai Shonshein, said in response: "In late May the government signed an agreement with the students saying that the State is obligated to accept the position of the students regarding any changes to tuition fees. Our opinion on the matter is well known and that's why so many cabinet ministers support us.

"These are only recommendations, which we will consider. We thank Avraham Shochat for all the work he's done but according to the agreement we will determine the tuition rates and we must give our approval. We have our own models and we're meeting with economists and lawyers to work it out. I believe that if the government upholds the agreement there cannot be a change without our consent."

Shonshein warns however that students will not hesitate to go on strike once more. "If we are not called (to discuss the changes) – we have shown out strength in the past, we have the power.

"We have all the tools we need, including the legal ones. We know how to fight. I hope it won't come to that and that the prime minister upholds the agreement," he said.