[Israeli University age requirement level playing field] About 5,000 Israeli Arabs studying at Jordanian universities

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
07 November 09

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Israeli universities apply an entrance age requirement so that those who don't serve in the army or do national service aren't rewarded with being able to attend university while others are in national service. It still doesn't level the playing field since they can spend this time studying and retaking the Israeli matriculation and "psychometric" (an equivalent of the American SAT) tests to improve their scores [entrance to almost all programs at Israeli universities are based purely on these scores] while those serving the country find themselves taking or re-taking these critical tests after not having been in a classroom for years. This while the testing schedule for the matriculation exams [which in some cases is only once a year with the results available too late for application for the academic year] can mean losing another year after completion of national service .]

Increasing numbers of Israeli Arabs studying at Jordanian universities
By Ofri Ilani Haaretz Last update - 04:40 01/11/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1124913.html

Increasing numbers of Israeli Arab high school graduates are leaving the country to study at Jordanian universities, according to a recent survey. A decade ago fewer than 100 Arab Israelis were studying at Jordanian institutions of higher learning, but last year this swelled to about 5,000.

According to the study, sponsored by Dirsat: The Arab Center for Law and Policy, a major reason for the phenomenon is age requirements in many departments at Israeli universities, as well as the language barrier.

When Maria Shalash of the largely Arab city of Nazareth graduated from high school two years ago, she wanted to study occupational therapy and communication disorders. "The field interested me, and people also told me that there were jobs [in the field]," she said.

Shalash tried to gain a place at the University of Haifa and was invited for an interview. But the university later discovered she was under 20, which disqualified her. She is now studying law, where there is no minimum-age requirement.
(Continue)
.