Most Israeli higher-education students now study outside the country’s eight publicly supported research universities, reports The Jerusalem Post. As 293,000 Israeli students return to college this week to begin the new academic year, only 42 percent will be enrolled in universities, compared with 46.7 percent in colleges and 7.5 percent in teacher-training colleges. It’s a sharp turnaround from 20 years ago, when 85 percent of students studied in universities and less than 7 percent in colleges. Of the 66 higher-education institutions in Israel, there are eight universities, 21 public colleges, 14 private colleges, and 23 teacher-training colleges. In many subjects, the colleges have lower entrance requirements, enabling high-school graduates with lower grades to pursue a degree.