Academic year opened on Sunday: 350,000 students are studying at 59 universities and collages

After a year and a half of partial distance learning, the academic year opened on Sunday and hundreds of thousands of students will fill the campuses and study in classrooms. The studies will take place under the rules of the "green character". Thus, higher education institutions have announced that most of the learning will take place on campuses, but they intend to incorporate distance learning on a limited scale as well.
350,000 students are expected to study in the current school year at 59 institutions of higher learning. This is an increase of four percent compared to the previous year. One in four students, about 26%, study engineering, computer science or mathematics - subjects that often lead to a career in the high-tech world.
According to the Council for Higher Education, this is the fourth year in a row that engineering studies are the most studied undergraduate program in Israel. They overtook the social sciences, which for years were the leading field of study. Mathematics, statistics, and computer science have also become more popular than ever. The departments of law and business administration, where there has been a decline for several years, have experienced a renewed rise in the last two years. There has also been a jump in the number of students studying nursing.
Women make up about 60% of all students. There are 58% women in the first degree, 64% in the second degree and 53% in the third degree. Some of them also increased in the technological professions: between the years 2009-2010, the number of female students studying for a bachelor's degree in computer science increased from 2,622 to 6,784 in this academic year.
In the past school year, 58,000 students, constituting about 30% of undergraduate students, came from localities located in low socio-economic clusters. The proportion of students from Arab society in the higher education system: 17%.
There has been a 45% increase in the last six years in the number of Ethiopian students studying for a bachelor's degree: from 2,608 in 2009/10 to 3,782 in 1997/98. Their rate among students: 1.5%. Their proportion in the population: 1.7%.
The budget of the higher education system stands at NIS 12.5 billion. This compares with NIS 7.3 billion in 1971. The budget for research funds increased 2.4 times in the same decade, from NIS 536 million to NIS 1,297 million.
 A quarter of students have changed their housing plans and will not move into a rented apartment, or return to their parents' home. According to a survey by the National Student Union and the Brain Pool Institute, half of the students who work during their studies do not work in work related to their field of study. Most students (70%) fear for their economic or employment future following the corona crisis - 87% in the Arab sector and 67% in the Jewish sector.
The survey was conducted among 10,000 students and presents a snapshot of the Israeli student in terms of economics, employment, housing, and satisfaction from the academic institutions.
The survey found that 79% of students are dissatisfied with the social aspect of distance learning. 27% prefer distance learning, 49% prefer a combination of distance learning and campus learning and 24% prefer campus learning over distance learning. Nearly half of the students in the sample (43%) believe that understanding the material is weakened during online learning.
As for the economic aspect, most students (71%) work during their studies. The highest gross monthly salary is found among students of non-budgeted colleges (NIS 5,914) and the lowest among budgeted colleges (NIS 4,316). In addition, students earn an average of NIS 1,786 more than female students - NIS 5,883 compared to NIS 4,097.
Due to financial difficulties, many students are forced to seek outside help. 39% of students receive financial assistance from their parents, and one in five students takes out a loan. The average financial assistance per month is NIS 1,765 - an increase of NIS 225 compared to last year.
Among the recipients of parental assistance, the average amount of assistance for students in unbudgeted colleges is NIS 2,200, compared with NIS 1,692 among students at universities. The average loan a student takes is NIS 34,145, an increase of NIS 6,941 (26%) compared to last year.
One of the students who will return to school today is Michael (Misha) Schur (23), who suffers from cerebral palsy, is limited to four limbs, is unable to speak, and communicates with the environment by typing with his nose on the cell phone. In a month he will complete a bachelor's degree in information systems and management at the Peres Academic Center.