Comparisons and Rankings

According to the Webometrics ranking, six of Israel's universities place in the top 100 schools of Asia. Four universities place in the top 150 in the world according to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities, and three are in the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings (i.e. amongst the "Top 200 World Universities"). Of note, the prestigious NYU, which enrolls the largest number of Jewish students of any public or private university in the United States, and is ranked in the top 34 globally in all major publications of university rankings, has a campus in Tel Aviv.

In addition, Israeli universities are among 100 of the top world universities in science and engineering-related subjects, according to the QS World University Rankings: mathematics (TAU, Hebrew University and Technion); physics (TAU, Hebrew University and Weizmann Institute of Science); chemistry (TAU, Hebrew University and Technion); computer science (TAU, Hebrew University, Weizmann Institute of Science, BIU and Technion); engineering (Technion); life sciences (Hebrew University).

In the social sciences, TAU and the Hebrew University rank in the top 100, and these universities are also ranked in the top 100 for economics; Israel is ranked 23rd on RePEc's Country and State Ranking for economics.

In 2010, Hebrew University reached 57th place in the global ranking list published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

Despite strong post-secondary rankings, Israel spends less per student than countries like Norway and Mexico.

Some officials have criticized the claim that the strong test scores prove Israel is a highly educated country, pointing out that scores from standardized tests exclude haredi and special education students, and thus are not an accurate reflection. Israeli teachers must contend with large classes, low wages and low morale. Despite this, Israel ranks second among OECD countries (tied with Japan and just after Canada) for the percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds that have achieved tertiary education: 46% compared with an OECD average of 32%. Inequality is a problem reflected in Israel's performance on international tests. In the latest Pisa exams, in which half a million students from 65 countries participated, Israel ranked 33 in reading achievement and 40th in mathematics and science. Only Taiwan had larger gaps in the performance between the best and worst students.