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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, July 22, 1983 21

Abstract Has Interesting Facts On Israeli Universities

By CARL ALPERT

HAIFA — Did you know
that Tel Aviv University
has the largest enrollment
among all the universities
of the country? That girls
constitute 46.9 percent of
the total student bodies?
That tuition fees cover only
4.2 percent of the cost of
running the universities?
That the university with
the highest percentage of
medical students among its
student body is the Techn-
ion?
The public relations de-
partments of Israel's var-
ious educational institu-
tions provide fascinating in-
formation about the activi-
ties on the various cam-
puses and on the significant
achievements at the in-
stitutions of higher educa-
tion, but obviously each has
its own horn to blow. The
most reliable source for ob-
jective statistical informa-
tion, however, is the Na-
tional Council for Higher
Education, whose Planning
and Grants Committee has
just issued a brochure bear-
ing the bland title: "Statis-
tical Abstract 1980-1981."
The figures, it turns out,
provide illuminating in-
formation on the whole pic-
ture of advanced education
in Israel. Even statistics can
be interesting if translated
into words and thoughts.
A piquant observation
in the introduction calls
attention to the fact that
in the case of first year
students, a joint check

Report Sharon
May Resign
Cabinet Post

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Ariel Sharon is unhappy
with his limited role in the
government since he was
forced to resign as Defense
Minister and is thinking of
quitting the Cabinet accord-
ing to "close friends" quoted
in a Maariv report today.
According to the report,
Sharon is "chaffing at his
enforced idleness." He did
not attend the weekly
Cabinet meeting last Sun-
day and rarely appears at
his Jerusalem or Tel Aviv
offices, Maariv said. He
spends most of his time on
his ranch in the Negev. The
report triggered speculation
over repercussions Sharon's
departure might have on
Premier Menahem Begin's
coalition.

Israel COL
Rises Again

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Is-
rael's cost of living index
rose by 3.6 percent during
June, the Central Bureau of
Statistics announced. It was
considerably less than the
figure forecast for the
month, by economists,
banks and the Finance
Ministry itself.
The low inflationary rate
was due to a sharp seasona-
ble drop in the price of fruit
and vegetables. Without
that drop, the index would
have risen by 6.1 percent
the bureau said.

revealed that actual
numbers had been exag-
gerated. "In such cases,
data were corrected by
common consent"— a de-
licate thrust at public re-
lations departments,
presumably.

The seven major institu-
tions are all well known. To
fix at least one historical
fact beyond any doubt, the
brochure introduces them
in the order of their founda-
tion, with the Technion first
and Ben-Gurion University
of the Negev as the newest.
As it turns out, the oldest is
not the biggest, and the
youngest is not the smallest
in physical facilities.
Since 1978, Tel Aviv Uni-
versity has forged ahead of
the Hebrew University and
consistently each year since
has the largest enrolled
student body. Total enroll-
ment in all the universities
is close to 60,000, with an
annual global freshman
class of about 11,600. It
should be noted that more
than 14,000 applicants for
admission were turned
away in 1979 and the figure
in subsequent years is per-
haps similar.
What are they all study-
ing? The social sciences ac-
count for 22.2 percent;
engineering and architec-
ture, 14.5 percent (with a
worrisome decline in the
past half dozen years); gen-
eral humanities, 10.5 per-
cent. The rest are scattered
among such fields as lan-
guages, literature, educa-
tion, business administra-
tion, mathematics and com-
puter sciences, etc., and
medicine. In the past 10
years there has been a slow
but definite increase in the
number of medical stu-
dents.
Girls account for 46.9

percent of the total
enrollment, though in
1980 they constituted 47.3
percent of the freshman
class.
How old are Israel's col-
lege students? Up to age 21,
30.2 percent (because of
military services most of
a these are probably girls);
ages 22-24, 34.5 percent,
25-29, 25.8 percent; over 30,
19.5 percent. In the past 10
years the percentage of over
30 has been rising steadily.
Where do the universities
get their money? The collec-
tive operating budgets are
covered: 74.4 percent by the
government and the Jewish
Agency; 4.2 percent from
tuition fees; contributions
from abroad, 8.5 percent;
miscellaneous, 12.9 per-
cent. The development, or
construction, budget would
show a much higher per-
centage of overseas partici-
pation.
Other interesting or
unique facts: 62 percent of
all the law students in the
country are at Tel Aviv
University; 100 percent of
all the agriculture students
are at the Hebrew Univer-
sity branch in Rehovot; the
school with the smallest
built-up floor space is Haifa
University; the fastest
growing is Ben-Gurion; the
slowest is Weizmann Insti-
tute, which increased its
student body from 419 in
1969-1970 to 460 in 1980-
1981; in proportion to its
total student body, Bar-Ilan
University leads them all in
special courses.
The abstract takes note
of several other smaller
and lesser known educa-
tional institutions,
though all of them play a
role in the larger educa-
tional picture, and all are
recognized by the Coun-
cil for Higher Education

for the granting of de-
grees:
These include the Bezalel
Academy of Arts and De-
sign, with 570 students; the
Rubin Academy of Music in
Jerusalem; 400 students;

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