The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT), a leader in providing high-level science and technology education to religious students in Israel and worldwide, has announced that it is launching Israel’s only computer science degree program whose classes are offered exclusively to women and are conducted fully in the English language.

Building off the existing success of JCT’s International Program in English for men – which allows students to continue learning with their rabbis in yeshivas in Israel while simultaneously obtaining strong professional training in the area of business – the college’s new computer science program for women will combine rigorous academic learning with a strong religious environment and Torah study, beginning in the fall semester of 2019.

The new program is part of JCT’s Machon Tal School, where over 2,500 women study in undergraduate and graduate tracks. The degree will be recognized by Israel’s Council of Higher Education, making all credits fully transferable.

JCT is establishing the program at a time when the university continues to defy gender patterns on women’s lagging participation in science and technology education and careers. According to the Council of Higher Education, women account for 58 percent of students who pursue a bachelor’s degree in Israel, but just 29 percent of Israeli college students who study computer science. Yet at JCT, 53 percent of the institution’s computer science students are women, and they account for 20 percent of female computer science students in all of Israel.

At the same time, Israel faces a shortage of well-trained and capable computer programmers and coders, forcing domestic companies to look outside of the Jewish state to fill open positions.

The computer science degree consists of three years of study. It is a full-time academic program, with classes held four days a week in the mornings. Tuition is approximately $2,800 per year for Israeli citizens, not including room and board; residence in the dormitories near the Machon Tal school in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul neighborhood cost approximately $2,000 annually. The price for non-Israeli citizens is around $3,800. Part of the tuition is eligible to be reimbursed for new Olim to Israel.