Bar-Ilan University was fined by the Council of Higher Education last week for admitting students without bachelor degrees to graduate programmes. The council's oversight and enforcement committee rejected Bar-Ilan's appeal of an earlier decision to forbid any special exceptions for students without bachelor degrees from applying to advanced programmes, writes Talila Nesher for Haaretz.

The investigation was launched after Haaretz revealed that Bar-Ilan had accepted journalist Yair Lapid directly to a masters and then to a doctoral programme despite the fact that he did not hold a bachelor degree. The committee also rejected the university's request to allow students currently enrolled in graduate programmes to finish their degrees without first having to complete a bachelor degree.

The panel ruled that Bar-Ilan will be responsible for financing the undergraduate degrees of students who were enrolled in violation of the council’s guidelines. In an exceptional move, the committee also slapped a fine on the university for violating procedure.
Full report on the Haaretz site