1998

​During its first three and a half years, IDC Herzliya operated without the official accreditation of the Council for Higher Education (CHE).
The academic establishment was reluctant to accredit the program and the school was concerned that the first class of students would be denied the coveted degree.

It was not until the end of the fourth year’s first semester that the CHE finally accredited IDC Herzliya’s academic degree.
It was a crisp winter morning when the faculty and student body gathered in what was once a car hanger, adjacent to the campus’ entrance, to officially announce the accreditation.

Prof. Shimon Schocken, composed IDC Herzliya’s anthem and taught it to the audience. The deans and the students sang the anthem and a great sense of excitement gripped everyone.

From that moment on, IDC Herzliya became a trailblazing academic institution.
“Everything was spontaneous, really”, Prof. Uriel Reichman recalled. “The person who eventually tipped the balance of power in our favor was then-Education Minister Zevulun Hammer z“l, who declared, in one sentence, that ‘we must add benches to the seminary‘”.

IDC Herzliya's Alumni Association was founded by the graduates of its very first class in collaboration with the management, and currently numbers 25,000 graduates. The Alumni Association is modeled after its Ivy League counterparts in the United States and aims to help graduates sustain a network of connections that can assist them during their professional future in Israel and overseas, foster relationships both within the alumni community and with IDC Herzliya, and create a support body that offers graduates a wide array of relevant services and activities.

Today, a new contact network called IDCNet has been developed to help graduates form relationships based on their interests, geographic location, occupation, and more.

As part of the emphasis placed on networking, IDC Herzliya operates a career development center that offers graduates counseling on various employment issues, including planning their professional path and shaping the nature of their careers. IDC Herzliya remains in contact with its alumni long after they have graduated, and it is at their disposal whenever they may need career advice throughout their lives.

The career development center's main goal is to leverage the relationships and ties formed between the school, its students and its alumni, and individuals serving in top positions in Israel and worldwide, to facilitate quality placement for IDC graduates.