IDF expands academic benefits for reservists, career soldiers after years of wartime service

As the 2026-27 academic year kicks off on campuses of Israeli colleges and universities, IDF reservists and career soldiers are receiving expanded academic accommodations across all fields of study.

The IDF issued a statement on Sunday outlining these new opportunities, saying that the military will provide a pathway to soldiers whose studies were disrupted by months-long deployments during the past three years of war.

Previous accommodations for reservists have been expanded and refined to help those who spent months away from campus on the front lines catch up and continue their academic studies.

The central pillar of this system is alternative assessments for evaluating students, including options to submit a research paper instead of taking an exam, taking modified exams or even counting the higher of two exam grades. Soldiers who have served a certain amount of time in the reserves or career soldiers who have served in frontline roles will be eligible to take these alternative assessment paths in three courses. Those who served fewer days in the reserves will be eligible for one or two alternative assessments, depending on the nature of their service.

Further assistance will be available for those who were forced to extend their degree by a semester or a year, while remaining eligible for alternative assessments based on the number of days they served in the reserves. The options include one-on-one tutoring, rescheduled exam dates, and maximum credit exemptions. Recordings of lectures are also being made available for those who could not attend classes, as well as other digital tools to help them access course materials.

Merit scholarships are also being made more widely available to military veterans. Graduate students whose research was interrupted by their IDF service will be granted extended deadlines, consideration regarding research grant payments, personalized accommodation plans, and other assistance to help them complete their studies within a reasonable amount of time.

“Following another long year in which career and reserve soldiers have proudly carried the country’s security on their shoulders, we face an unequivocal duty and demand: to see them and their needs when they go out to study as well,” said IDF Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate.

“To prove that we care for them not only when they are in uniform, but also during their studies. The plan we created together with the Council for Higher Education provides a safety net that addresses needs arising authentically from the field. Those who serve are not asking for discounts; they are demanding fairness. It is our duty to make sure they receive as equal an opportunity as possible, and encounter fairness from all parties in actual deeds.”

In the last three years since the Iron Swords War began with the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, nearly 400,000 Israeli citizens have served time in the IDF reserves, while many more have served in the regular military.