HE News Brief 5.3.12
- Europe: Research ministers call for bigger role for social sciences in Horizon 2020
- India: Massive rise in number of Indian students sitting Graduate Record Examination
- US: Liberal arts education on the rise in Asia
- Asia Pacific: Australia-China higher education forum announced
HE News Brief 20.2.12
- India: Distance learning institutions are widening participation
- UK: Universities are fined record amounts for accepting too many students
- UK: British government have implemented stricter rules for student visas
- Rankings: Kenyan government to produce rankings
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 Continue Reading
Indian students make a beeline for Canadian universities
By Kanika Tandon, Education Writer
Indian students looking to study abroad are finding Canada an increasingly desirable destination. “Indian students have rediscovered Canada in the last few years,” says Simon Cridland, Head of the Advocacy Programme at the High Commission of Canada in India. The High Commission has witnessed a considerable increase in student visas issued over the past two years. In 2008, the total number of Indian candidates applying for Canadian student visas was a relatively small, but decent 3,000. However, 2010 statistics reveal that the figure has soared to 12,000. Embassy officials are reportedly confident that the numbers will double again over the next two years.
Enrolment figures at the University of Toronto (ranked 29th in QS World University Rankings® 2010), which has seen a massive increase in Indian student enrolment, corroborate this. Richard Levin, Executive Director of Enrolment Services at the University, informs us that between 2006 and 2010, the university recorded a 27 per cent increase in applications and a 52 per cent increase in Indian students registering for undergraduate programs.
The steady growth in the country’s popularity as a higher education destination among Indians can be ascribed to several factors, including the consistent efforts of the Canadian and Indian governments to cement their bilateral ties. With 3 of its universities in the Top 50 of QS World University Rankings® 2010, Canada offers higher education which is internationally recognized and globally respected for its quality – it also helps that tuition is relatively low! “Canada generally is a safe, peaceful, affordable and attractive destination for international students, with an excellent education system,” says Levin. Continue Reading
Using rankings to set policy and funding criteria
by Ben Sowter
I recently received an email from a professor at a Spanish university. In a nutshell, his university had revised its funding policy guidelines to include the criterion that PhD students should have taken their undergraduate program at a university within the top 500 in Webometrics in order to be eligible for funding. Before applying this criterion, he had a PhD candidate from the University of Mumbai that was placed 3rd, introducing it dropped her to 7th and ineligible for a grant. The professor pointed out the University of Mumbai’s position of 155 in our ranking but this was dismissed by the committee due to the fact that QS is a commercial entity and thus our observations somehow invalid.
Our response (below) may make for interesting reading – it’s not just about promoting the strengths of the QS approach to ranking but also about how rankings might more responsibly be applied to this kind of context.
HE News Brief 15.3.11
by Abby Chau
IN THIS EDITION
- UNITED KINGDOM: British Council’s “Global Gauge” places Germany as the best country for international study
- HONG KONG: Do rankings encourage Asian universities to “westernize?”
- INDIA: Ministerial support for foreign universities establishing campuses reiterated
- NORTH AFRICA: Do student protests work after all?
- DENMARK: Foreign students priced out of courses
HE News Brief 1.3.11
by Abby Chau
- A new report by the European University Association (EUA) has been published to address how institutions can look elsewhere to diversify their income. The report is based on 150 responses from universities spanning 27 different countries and shows that although public funding accounts for 73% of budgets, institutions must get creative in order to remain competitive. Findings show that red tape and an inflexible structure can stronghold universities from seeking private funding.
Full Story: Science Business
- In less than a decade, South Korea has tripled its international faculty and is poised to make significant gains in its internationalisation program as heavy hitters like the United States and the UK slump into economic austerity. Currently 7% of South Korea’s faculty are foreign hires, compared to Japan’s, which has a longer history on the international stage, average of 5%. Last year the government approved a $752 million World Class University Project which, among other initiatives, earmarked funds to hire more foreign professors as a method to modernise its higher education system. However, many are saying that there are issues that still need to be ironed out, such as the fact that salaries for foreign professors are nearly double that of domestic faculty, and a recent survey by the Education Ministry found that international faculty average a stay of only four months before they decide to leave their post.
Full Story: Chronicle of Higher Education Continue Reading
The future of branch campuses
by Susan Gatuguta Gitau
A recent article featured in University World News highlighted Qatar’s aspiration towards developing a hub of academic excellence in the Arab world through the proliferation of foreign universities in the country. The growth of satellite universities in developing countries attracts arguments, for and against them. Of particular interest is the impact of foreign universities on the nations’ brain drain dilemma.
Brain drain refers to the emigration of well-educated, skilled professionals from their home countries. This problem is most prevalent in developing countries. By setting up satellite universities in these countries, it’s believed that local talent will be persuaded to stay and more local students would enrol. In Qatar’s case, it is argued that brain drain has been stemmed by adopting these institutions. In addition, the nation is now attracting international students. These institutions equally provide an opportunity of brain gain as promising academics are attracted back home. Continue Reading
HE News Brief 4.01.11
by Abby Chau
Happy new year to you all! The QSIU team will be delivering you the latest HE news, as well as intelligence on rankings, HE trends, and other beasts this upcoming year. Stay tuned.
- India has announced that they will be performing their first major survey of higher education, which has suffered from inadequate statistical information for years. This initiative is seen to be the first step in a decade long effort to double the countries’ higher education institutions.
Full Story: New York Times
- Now that English students are set to pay up to £9000 in tuition fees starting in 2012, Michael Russell, Scotland’s Education announced that Scottish students will still enjoy free tuition. In order to fund this, students from the rest of the UK will pay premium fees. This announcement is seen to curve “fee refugees” from other parts of the UK from fleeing to Scotland in order to pay less for higher education.
Full Story: University World News
Continue Reading
HE News Brief 16.11.10
by Abby Chau
- Ranking-related news this past week includes musings across the pond regarding university rankings and their foothold in higher education. The French government has just published a new rankings based on 43,000 graduate students surveyed from 63 of the country’s 83 institutions. Paris-XI, Lyon I, and Rennes I ranked the highest, respectively. The findings come at a time when President Sarkozy is ramping up his government’s pledge to grant the country’s universities more autonomy. Some praise the findings, saying that the rankings show that universities must develop career services to help graduates find jobs. Critics of the rankings are dismayed by what they see as yet another exercise to try to homogenise a disparate and unique higher education university system. Some universities like Jussieu, based in Paris, and Dauphine refused to participate in the rankings.
Full Story: New York Times
More: New York Times
- Indian Human resource development minister Kapil Sibal and UK’s universities minister David Willets have recently announced that higher education expenditure will grow annually by 13% in the next decade. Since the 1950s, the number of institutions in India have dramatically augmented, from 28 to 504. Still despite this enormous boom, the country is still 800 universities short to accommodate the growing middle class who are now eyeing higher education as a means to a fruitful future. In 1981, the average Indian household was spending 1.46% on education, now that number has risen to 7.5%.
Full Story: University World News
More: Livemint
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