When the academic year begins this coming Sunday, 19,750 students will stream onto campus, 53% of them women.
8,700 students have registered for an undergraduate degree, 2,400 in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and 3,800 in the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, a 9% rise in registrants.
There has also been a general rise in registrants for graduate degrees (masters) to 2,800. The surprising jump has been those registering for masters degrees in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 7.5% higher than last year, for a total of 1,000.
Registration for doctoral programs is still open, but initial indications point to another year of increasing registrants. Last year, 20% more registered to do their PhDs at BGU than the year before.
The Most Sought-After Programs
Medicine, computer science, computer and electrical engineering and psychology are the most sought-after undergraduate degree programs this year. 2,000 students have registered for medical studies, and 1,400 have registered for computer science.
The masters degree programs in highest demand are business administration, psychology, and software and information systems engineering. There was an increase in registrants to the masters programs in health sciences, microbiology and immunology, geography and environmental development and life sciences.
Computer Science, Computer and Electrical Engineering and Medicine remain the largest departments.
New Programs to be Offered This Year
Arabic in Arabic – For the first time in Israeli history, the Department of Middle East Studies will offer a new integrative approach to teaching Arabic in Arabic. The approach integrates spoken and literary Arabic and will offer a subject course taught in Arabic in the second year and an internship in the third year of the program.
Digital Humanities Laboratory – Studies in the lab will proffer a new approach: utilizing computational techniques for the study of humanities.
Entrepreneurship and Tech Management – A new program in the Department of Management introducing students to the world of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial eco-system – raising capital, product development and ethical issues in the startup world. The course will connect students with BGU's active entrepreneurial scene – Yazamut 360, the Advanced Technologies Park, hackathons and internship opportunities.
EITAN Program – An interdisciplinary program for outstanding students. In the Direct to Masters Program, students will build their own courses of study and be able to take advantage of personal mentoring and mandatory courses at the highest level.
Unique Courses
Popular Music in the United States – While the students won't be building playlists of Beyoncé and Madonna, they will get a thorough grounding in jazz and pop music popular between 1840 and 1980.
Chinese for Beginners – The basics of the language as well as the enveloping theory and culture of this ancient language.
Environmental, Sustainability and Conservation Issues – An online course will tackle the increasingly challenging global environmental issues humanity faces on this planet.
