Colleges to begin offering doctoral degrees

In a unanimous vote, Israel's Council for Higher Education approved last week for colleges, not just universities, to begin awarding doctoral degrees, therefore creating the first private universities in the country. PhD programmes that will be offered in the private colleges will require approval from both the council and an international committee, reports i24news.

The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya originally requested to offer a doctoral programme five years ago, but its request was not considered. A number of colleges then attempted to further a reform that would permit colleges to offer PhD programmes, but the budgeting subcommittee of the Council for Higher Education opposed it, pushing instead for joint programmes between colleges and universities.

The newly approved outline for college-run PhD programmes is partially tougher than the failed reform, including higher numbers of researchers an institution must have, and years the institution has been offering bachelors and masters degrees.
Full report on the i24news site