Applications to the Students Authority for 5787 are open — and olim from Ethiopia have extended eligibility. Here are the differences

Applications are open — and two deadlines are already close

The Students Authority's service page says today: "Registration for the 2026-2027 academic year has opened." The deadlines, in the page's own words:

Continuing students in the first semester — by October 1.
New students in the first semester — by November 10.
Starting in the second semester — by April 1. Starting in the summer semester — by August 15.

Alongside this the page sets out a line worth reading before you put the paperwork off: "Retroactive assistance cannot be given", and an online application must be filed afresh every year or semester.

What exactly is extended

The Authority has a dedicated page titled "Extended eligibility conditions for olim from Ethiopia, from Yemen, and Bnei Menashe." We read it alongside the general eligibility page, in order to check what genuinely differs — and not to present a general benefit as though it were community-specific. The differences are real, and these are they:

	General track	Extended track
Window from receiving status to the start of studies	36 months	15 years
Maximum age at the start of studies — bachelor's / practical engineer / certificate studies	up to 27	up to 28
Maximum age — master's / conversion for degree holders	up to 30	up to 40
Master's funding on top of a bachelor's	no, apart from exceptions	yes, explicitly
Living stipend	not part of the general conditions	yes

In both tracks, a period of military or national service is not counted inside the window.

Extending 36 months to 15 years is the most consequential difference. Someone who made aliyah as a child, served, worked a few years and only then decided to study has already lost eligibility under the general track. Under the extended track they are inside it.

The living stipend

Per the page:

₪600 a month, for up to 9 months a year, in study months only.
Conditional on a course load of at least 50% annually or per semester.
At the Open University — at least two courses, at least 12 credits in the semester.
Medical students are entitled to living stipends throughout all their years of study.
Not entitled: anyone studying less than 50%, anyone studying for an advanced degree (including a master's, a conversion or a post-degree certificate), and anyone studying in the summer semester.

Source: Extended eligibility conditions for olim from Ethiopia, Yemen and Bnei Menashe — Ministry of Aliyah and Integration · verified September 2026.

What else is included

Funding for professional counselling and guidance in choosing a field of study; tuition funding according to the standard length of the track; funding for English and Hebrew courses required for the degree; and the "Ma'atefet" support system — tutoring, social and cultural activities, events and seminars, social-worker support services, and mentors for personal and social accompaniment.

On tuition: "each year the scholarship will be up to the level of a full scholarship at the university rate (100% of tuition), and in accordance with the student's actual course load." At institutions whose tuition exceeds the government rate, the Authority pays up to the rate and the balance is on the student.

The academic conditions — and what actually trips people up

Admission as a regular student to an institution and track recognized by the Authority.
The student does not already hold a degree or certificate equivalent or identical to the one for which assistance is sought.
Matriculation certificate eligibility or a preparatory-programme completion certificate. At the Open University, someone admitted without matriculation becomes eligible only after successfully completing three academic courses totalling 18 credits.
Continued assistance requires an average of 60 or above and confirmation of proper year-to-year progression.
No funding for a repeated year — neither after a failure nor after a change of track.
A break in studies of up to two academic years is permitted across the whole eligibility period.
Anyone who stops studying must notify immediately. Failure to do so can lead to a debt being recorded and all financial assistance from the ministry being stopped.
Recipients are required to perform community volunteering hours under the Shachak programme (social-community service).

Two government scholarships — not at once

The page repeats it twice: "A tuition scholarship cannot be granted to students receiving a scholarship from another government body." This matters in practice against the CHE's Marom scholarship, whose registration has not yet opened. The two tracks were not designed to stack, and they target complementary populations: Marom — those in Israel more than 15 years or Israeli-born; the Authority — those within 15 years of receiving status.

The page itself directs anyone not eligible for Authority assistance to check Marom — but the dates shown there ("opened on 9/9/2025... until 11/11/25") belong to the 5786 cycle, not to the cycle opening now. Do not rely on them.

A caveat the Authority itself writes

"All of the above is a summary of the rules, and in any event the procedure and the temporary order govern. Assistance is conditional on budget availability and on the annual renewal of the temporary order."

This is not merely formal boilerplate: eligibility depends on a temporary order renewed year by year. Worth knowing before you build a four-year plan on this track.