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How Israel's Technion Tripled Arab Enrollment
(Times of Israel) Dov Lieber - Currently 20% of the students at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology are Arab. Arabs make up 20.7% of Israel's population. Prof. Peretz Lavie, the president of the Technion, told the Times of Israel that his university's achievement is the result of a rigorous program preparing students to meet admissions requirements before they apply - and has nothing to do with affirmative action: eased admission standards for historically disadvantaged populations. Twelve years ago, when just 7% of students in the Technion were Arab, the university began its NAM program, a Hebrew acronym that translates as Outstanding Arab Youth. The program, which is paid for by Jewish philanthropy, begins with an all-expenses-paid 10-month "boot camp" in mathematics, physics, English and Hebrew. Participants also receive full tuition, a monthly stipend, and a free laptop. After the camp, its participants - who are accepted into the program based on their good performance in high school - are ready to apply to the Technion at the same academic standard as every other candidate. In a positive sign for the economic potential of the Arab community, where a majority of women do not work, Lavie pointed out that 61% of the 527 Arab students in the incoming class are female. A survey of 1,500 recent Arab graduates of the Technion found that nearly all of them landed jobs in their first year after graduation, with 20% employed at international high-tech companies.