The history of Ariel University began over three decades ago in a small town in the West Bank, with a few dozen students. Over the years the small school managed to establish itself on the local map of higher education and became the first regional college to reach the status of public university. In this paper we shall review and analyze the external and internal factors that facilitated the process. External factors refer to changes in social, economic, political, and constitutional aspects at the base of the development of regional colleges. Internal factors refer to a series of decisions made at the college leading it of all others to become a university. We shall present the teleological approach as the basis for understanding the processes that occurred at the college and that ultimately facilitated the transition.
Keywords: Higher Education, Leadership, Public University, Regional Colleges, Strategic Planning
