Tel Aviv U partners with Columbia U to offer joint undergraduate program
Students will spend two years on the Israeli campus, followed by two years in New York and gain two Bachelor's degrees, one from each institution.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSStudents at Tel Aviv University(photo credit: MICHAL ROCHE – BEN AMI)
Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the elite Ivy League Columbia University of New York have partnered together to offer a new joint 4-year dual degree undergraduate program, open to students worldwide.The program, the first-of-its-kind, will launch in the next academic year, 2020-21, offering students a chance to study for two years at TAU followed by two years at Columbia. Participation levels are expected to grow in subsequent years.Students will be offered courses in Humanities and Life Sciences on the Israeli campus, as well as studies in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. At Columbia, they will be able to pick from courses on Humanities, Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Exact Sciences. Those who successfully complete the program will receive two Bachelors degrees, one from each institution, and will be eligible to continue into post-graduate education in either Israel or the US.“This is the first time that an Israeli university is collaborating with an elite American institution to offer a dual undergraduate program of this kind,” TAU Vice President, Professor Ra'anan Rein said. “I am very happy about this opportunity for students from Israel, the US and other countries, to enjoy cross-cultural learning at two leading universities, enriching their learning experience, and giving them different perspectives on the main challenges faced by humanity today, and a real advantage in planning their professional lives.”Columbia University has similar arrangements with only three other higher education institutions outside of America: City University of Hong Kong, which is ranked 126 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020; Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, ranked 164; and Sciences Po in Paris, ranked in the top 500. Tel Aviv University is ranked at 189, while Columbia is at 16.In addition to being open to Israeli and American students, the program will be offered to international students at the tuition fee rate set by each institution. TAU is working on establishing a scholarship program for Israeli students who may be unable to cope with ivy league tuition prices.“I am especially excited about our partnership with Tel Aviv University, which is consistently ranked among the best academic institutions worldwide,” said Prof. Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Dean Columbia University School of General Studies. “By giving students the opportunity to study full time at a top-tier university in the Middle East before bringing them to study in the Ivy League, they will not only benefit from being immersed in a wide range of cultures and experiences, but will also make an immense contribution to the Columbia undergraduate classroom.”
