For the past few years, faculties of the humanities in the Israeli academia have been facing a serious crisis, in light of the considerable decline in numbers of registered students. According to figures provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics, over one-third of all undergraduate students in Israel were studying humanities in 2002. By 2012, that number had plunged to just one-quarter.
More current statistics released at the beginning of the academic year (October 2013) by the Council for Higher Education are even more disturbing. Only 7.5% of undergraduates now choose to study the humanities.