HE News Brief 16.4.12

April 16th, 2012Australia, Canada, Italy, Uncategorized0 comments

• India: Five-year plan calls for a significant increase in student numbers
• Canada: Business schools paving the way for internationalisation
• Australia: Paper discusses whether Australian institutions are preparing Chinese students for domestic employability
• Italy: Controversial move causing an uproar

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HE News Brief 30.11.10

November 30th, 2010Denmark, HE Reforms, Italy, North America, UK0 comments

by Abby Chau

• From Palermo to Milan, students in Italy are protesting  budget cuts as well as what some are calling drastic and tumultuous higher education reforms that has swept across the country in the last few years. There has been 1,371 different new laws and bills regarding higher education between 1996-2006. New initiatives have cropped up fast and furious with new and sometimes erratic new laws calling for the merging of universities, the standardisation of degree recognition, as well as the introduction of new degree courses. The newest set of bills however is causing civil unrest. Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini introduced a bill that many are saying would dismantle public universities because of its far-reaching proposals to change the system of recruiting teachers and effectively changing the governance of institutions.
  Full Story: Seattle Times
  More: New York Times
  
  
• Home Secretary Theresa May announced that the UK government will be cutting the quota of international students for non-degree level courses by 120,000. International students generate a substantial amount of money for institutions and the British economy as they are charged three, sometimes four times the amount of tuition fees. It is clear that the government’s aim to further reduce immigration by 2015 will include a plan to tackle the number of international students entering the country. Net migration stands at approximately 200,000 at the moment with two-thirds of non-EU migrants entering the country as students. May said that the government will be creating 1,000 places for exceptional talents, including academics, artists, and scientists.  Institutions warn that with budget cuts looming, and tuition fee hikes, losing another stream of money could only worsen the situation.
  Full Story: the Guardian
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2010 QS World University Rankings® Video – Continental Europe focussed

September 10th, 2010France, Germany, HE News, Italy, National, Regional, University Rankings0 comments

Nunzio Quacquarelli, Managing Director of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, gives a brief description of the QS World University Rankings^®.

Ben Sowter, Head of the QS Intelligence Unit, gives an overview of the performances of German, Spanish, Italian and French institutions.