Haifa University was established in 1963 under the joint auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Haifa Municipality. In 1972, it gained academic accreditation as a separate institution from the Council for Higher Education. It was located atop Mount Carmel in 1966 and is the educational center for the northern region of Israel. In 2007, it had a student body of approximately 16,500, including many Israeli Arabs and Druze; it also has a high proportion of new immigrants (see ALIYA) from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as well as third- and fourth-generation Israelis from moshavim and kibbutzim. The university is said to be a microcosm of the diverse city in which it resides.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..