This article focuses on the erosion of the monopoly by universities of the higher education system in Israel. The hegemony of the universities, the major player in the academic field, has been shattered by the development of the regional colleges that unsettled the preconceptions concerning the higher education system in Israel, including the goals, student profiles, curricula and organizational structure of the various types of academic institutions. This article examines how colleges and universities, the two major types of higher education institutions in Israel, were affected by enhanced access to higher education in the past decade.