The Open University of Israel is a distance-education university with no single campus and with full-and part-time students from throughout Israel. Its flexible schedule and emphasis on self-study and the use of the Internet and videoconferencing to communicate with teachers or with other students makes the Open University's format especially well-suited to those Israelis who are preoccupied with a job, army service, or family responsibilities. The Open University of Israel was planned in 1971, modeled after the Open University in the United Kingdom. The first semester of studies commenced on 17 October 1976. In 1980, the university was officially recognized as an institution of higher learning in Israel, and it was given the authority to grant bachelor's degrees. In 1982, 41 graduates received B.A. diplomas in the university's first diploma ceremony. In 1996, the university also started a master's degree program. As of 2006, the Open University had a student body of about 39,000.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..