The Jerusalem Municipality has granted the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) an excavation permit for its new Tal Campus for women. The initiative, to build Israel’s largest campus for religious women, expands JCT’s ability to empower its students.
The future Tal Campus will span 3.5 acres and is projected to cost $120 million. To date, JCT has raised $70 million.
The campus will be home to the Beren Center for Engineering, the Helmsley Center of Life and Health Sciences, the Friedman Center for Business and Management Studies, and the Tessler-Glina Cafeteria. It will also include on-campus housing. In addition, a stunning landscaped garden and multiple outdoor spaces are planned.
The campus will be the new permanent home for 3,000 of JCT’s students and will provide increased opportunities for women to pursue higher education and attain quality employment in the engineering, healthcare and hi-tech industries.
The college expects building construction to begin in approximately six months.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion shared that, "JCT is the leading Israeli institution of higher education providing academic training … for religious women. Women from the haredi community have found JCT’s Tal Campus the perfect address for acquiring academic training. The degrees earned at JCT empower religious women to integrate into the city's labor market in high-income professions. The new Tal Campus will attract religious young women from all over the country and will strengthen Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, both socially and economically."
Prof. Chaim Sukenik, President of JCT, commented, "The construction of this new campus is an important milestone in our efforts to integrate women in the fields of science and health. I thank our many supporters who have made this exciting new step possible."
According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2022, women represented only 28% of employees with core technological jobs in the hi-tech workforce. Per the Israel Innovation Authority, last year, nationally, women comprised only 30% of all students studying tech-related courses. At JCT, over half (53%) of the students studying computer science are women.
"The new campus will allow for even further expansion of our current programs and will provide new opportunities for women in computer science, health, management, and engineering fields," Prof. Sukenik added. "The new Tal Campus will enable a significant increase in the number of women students in these areas."
Over 90% of JCT’s alumni are employed in their field within a year of graduation. Many JCT graduates enter the workforce in leading firms such as Intel, Google, Microsoft, Amdocs, Rafael, Elbit, Check Point, Texas Instruments, and IBM.
JCT’s Deputy CEO for Infrastructure, Uriel Ben-Nun, stated, "I thank Mayor Moshe Lion, who again visited the Campus just yesterday, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Development Authority for their work promoting this project. We could not succeed without these critical partners."
This expansion of JCT — which is home to approximately 5,000 students from religious backgrounds, making it Jerusalem’s second-largest academic institution — aligns with the broader plans spearheaded by Israel’s Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage to position the capital as a national hub for academic excellence in science and technology.
