A mini-storm was set off among U.S. immigrants last week when it became known that the Education Ministry was not granting recognition to Yeshiva University's undergraduate degrees. Teachers with such degrees were thus not receiving the full salaries that other college graduates were receiving.
The reason provided by the Education Ministry was that YU's degree is often based on a year of yeshiva study in Israel. A Ministry spokesman said that YU's undergraduate degree was recognized in terms of accepting applicants for work, but that concerning salaries, "institutions of non-academic learning, such as yeshivas, are not recognized for this purpose. By the same token, we cannot recognize M.A. degrees of those whose B.A. was from an unrecognized institution."
Most new immigrants from North America in recent years have been orthodox Jews who have learned in a yeshiva for a year, or attended a university such as Yeshiva that accepts a year of study in Israel as partial fulfillment of its requirements.
Howard Weisband, Senior Advisor to YU President Richard Joel on Israel Affairs, told Arutz-7 today that he is optimistic that the glitch will be cleared up, "possibly even within a matter of days." He said that officials from both YU and the Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah organization, "who have been working together on this issue, have been in contact with the highest echelons of the Education Ministry, and have learned that there is no such ministerial policy not to recognize YU's degree."
Weisband said that the decision not to recognize YU's degrees for salary purposes was made on the bureaucratic level "out of a desire to meet the new budgetary requirements, and in response to the problem of other foreign universities whose degrees are not accredited. But we have received indications from the highest echelons that this problem will soon be solved."
Close to 650 American students are currently studying in YU-affiliated one-year yeshiva programs in Israel.
The reason provided by the Education Ministry was that YU's degree is often based on a year of yeshiva study in Israel. A Ministry spokesman said that YU's undergraduate degree was recognized in terms of accepting applicants for work, but that concerning salaries, "institutions of non-academic learning, such as yeshivas, are not recognized for this purpose. By the same token, we cannot recognize M.A. degrees of those whose B.A. was from an unrecognized institution."
Most new immigrants from North America in recent years have been orthodox Jews who have learned in a yeshiva for a year, or attended a university such as Yeshiva that accepts a year of study in Israel as partial fulfillment of its requirements.
Howard Weisband, Senior Advisor to YU President Richard Joel on Israel Affairs, told Arutz-7 today that he is optimistic that the glitch will be cleared up, "possibly even within a matter of days." He said that officials from both YU and the Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah organization, "who have been working together on this issue, have been in contact with the highest echelons of the Education Ministry, and have learned that there is no such ministerial policy not to recognize YU's degree."
Weisband said that the decision not to recognize YU's degrees for salary purposes was made on the bureaucratic level "out of a desire to meet the new budgetary requirements, and in response to the problem of other foreign universities whose degrees are not accredited. But we have received indications from the highest echelons that this problem will soon be solved."
Close to 650 American students are currently studying in YU-affiliated one-year yeshiva programs in Israel.