HE News Brief 30.1.12
by Abby Chau
- SOUTH KOREA: A third of universities have announced the intention of dropping tuition fees by at least 5%
- SAUDI ARABIA: The government has announced that it hopes to have 50,000 graduates from the world’s top 500 universities by 2020
- UK: Application rates projected to fall by 10% for the autumn 2012 term amidst tuition fee hikes and budget cuts
- GERMANY: A different take on foreign students?
Public spending and university quality: is there a link?
by Martin Juno
Broadly speaking, higher education systems range from those relaying almost entirely on public funding to those mainly supported by private sources. Of course, there are a variety of options between those extreme points and most countries try mixed schemes.
Which system provides the better outcomes in terms of university teaching and research quality?
An interesting exercise that may provide a general answer to this question is to compare the relative performance of institutions operating in different funding environments. In order to conduct this analysis we used the higher education finance indicators provided by UNESCO (available here) , establishing four range groups (or quartiles) of public spending on tertiary education as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the countries . Then the top 400 QS World University Rankings (QSWUR) institutions – available on topuniversities.com- were distributed among each spending level quartile and the average scores for every group were calculated.
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HE News Brief 29.11.11
by Abby Chau
- SOUTH KOREA: Recognition of foreign diplomas paves the way for Asia-Pacific higher ed collaboration
- UK: Initial figures show that applications for 2012 sees a 15% shortfall
- CANADA: Positioning itself as a popular destination for international students
- RUSSIA: Recognition of foreign degrees in 2012 Read more
HE News Brief 21.11.11
by Abby Chau
- AUSTRALIA: Internalisation activities are entering a third stage
- MIDDLE EAST: Foreign branches in Qatar and Dubai are faring well
- INTERNATIONAL: A new Autonomy Scorecard produced by the EUA
- CHILE: Students are going to the table after six-months of protests Read more
HE News Brief 25.10.11
by Abby Chau
- CHILE: Student protests have erupted in Santiago
- CHINA: Collaboration of 11 institutions to form the Beijing Tech
- INTERNATIONAL: A new report by the World Bank follows 11-leading universities
- UK: A BBC investigation into graduate employability
- NETHERLANDS: Call on cap for foreign student numbers Read more
HE News Brief 18.10.11
by Abby Chau
- UK: A new report outlining the higher education outlook
- LATIN AMERICA: A new rankings of the region has raised questions about governmental spending habits
- INDIA: Foreign branches must adhere to too many restrictions
- US: Some institutions have closed foreign branches
- AUSTRALIA: Trends for international student numbers Read more
HE News Briefs 27.9.11
by Abby Chau
- AUSTRALIA: Visa restrictions have been lifted for international students
- UNITED STATES: Admission officers feel pressure to look at students who can pay their own way
- SAUDI ARABIA: The country has been building partnerships around the world but some warn caution
- SPAIN: Finding it difficult to implement its second year plan for the Bologna Process
- BRITAIN: Tuition fee hikes have made some consider other routes for students Read more
Tough Australian student visa requirements to be lifted
The Australian, one of Australia’s leading newspapers, described the review as ‘a jewel’, praising its clarity, its depth, and even the entertaining way in which it is written. But it is not the literary value of Michael Knight’s review of the Australian student visa process that will most please Australia’s 39 universities and those who harbour ambitions of studying in one of them, but the nature of the proposals made within – all 41 of which have been approved by the Australian government.
The publication of the report has been eagerly awaited. It was commissioned in December 2010, a consultation period was run in March, during which various groups could submit their proposals to Knight (around 200 were submitted), and the final document was submitted to the Australian government at the end of June. The report was finally published, along with an announcement of the government’s acceptance of the proposals, on September 22nd.
For those thinking about studying in Australia the news will be welcome. The tough visa process, which has reportedly played a large part in the drop in international student numbers which has occurred in Australia since 2009, has been simplified. The changes will be particularly welcomed by students from Asian nations such as India and China, who, despite contributing the highest number of international students, were subject to some of the most stringent regulations. Read more
HE News Briefs 14.9.11
- KOREA: After an extensive audit, 43 institutions have lost important funding
- ENGLAND: Institutions are rethinking the amount they want to charge for tuition fees
- INTERNATIONAL: According to a new report, collaborative international degrees are on the rise
- NETHERLANDS: Morning raids at VU Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam
- UGANDA: Institution shutting down due to lack of funds and staff discontent
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Asian investment continues to reap dividends
By Danny Byrne
This year’s rankings reflect proactive schemes to improve standards at many Asian universities.
Ambitious schemes implemented by governments throughout Asia have led to dramatic developments in international recognition and research standards, and this improvement is again reflected in the 2011 QS World University Rankings®. Of the leading 25 Asian universities, 21 improve on their 2010 position, with just three moving in the opposite direction. There are 47 Asian universities in the top 300 (two more than last year), and 88 institutions make the top 500.
Hong Kong University repeats its 2010 performance by taking the top spot in Asia, moving up one place to 22nd and increasing the gap with University of Tokyo to three places. HKU is joined by fellow Hong Kong institutions CUHK and HKUST in the top 50, and with HKU, University of Tokyo and National University of Singapore cementing their places in the top 30, leading Asian institutions are now proving on a year-on-year basis that they operate at a comparable level to the world’s best.
However, despite the quality of Hong Kong universities, in terms of the number of leading institutions Japan is still the region’s major force in world higher education. The University of Tokyo, its top institution, is down one place from 24 to 25, but apart from ETH Zurich remains the top university in the world not working mainly in English. It is also the fifth-highest ranked institution outside the United States and the United Kingdom. Read more
