By Jason Lane and Kevin Kinser. In recent days, the actions of two higher-education institutions have raised concerns about the oversight of their internationalization activities. Last week, an audit of Dickinson State University, a public institution in North Dakota, revealed that the institution had operated as a diploma mill for hundreds of international students, awarding degrees despite the individuals not completing all degree requirements, and many not even having a basic level of English proficiency. This week, a New York Times article raised concerns about degrees being offered by Empire State College (ESC) in Albania. ESC, part of New York’s public higher-education system, was operating in cooperation with the University of New York, Tirana (a private entity registered in Albania), to offer degree-granting academic programs to local students. The Times’ investigations suggested that the students were being misled by advertising, faculty were not approved by Empire State, and some of the courses were poor quality.
To us this raised a question about who provides oversight of a college or university’s international activities?
In short, international activities rely on internal oversight. External mechanisms don’t do a good job of crossing borders. Here we’re only commenting on the situation in the U.S., though there are commonalities with other nations.
Empire State and Dickenson State are both public institutions and the reports raise questions about the effectiveness of state oversight. In a study we recently completed of state regulation of the importing and exporting of higher-education institutions, we found most states just focused on what institutions within in their borders were doing. Few seemed to care all that much about what their public institutions did outside of the state. And for those that did care, they cared about process and finances, with quality rarely considered.
The institutional accreditation agencies aren’t filling the gap in oversight of offshore locations. They do have some procedures in place: Institutions are required to alert the accreditation agencies of any new teaching locations, and when these presences are substantial, such as a branch campus, a review team from the accreditation agency usually visits around the time that the campus is opened to ensure that it complies with home campus policies and procedures. In other words, accreditation is supposed to verify that an institution has appropriate internal oversight of the international activity. But in the ESC case, the Albania location was approved by the accreditation agency, Middle States Commission on Higher Education, as an “other instructional site” without making a site visit. If internal oversight by ESC breaks down, as is implied in the article, Middle States can’t provide the crucial back-up necessary to ensure quality overseas.
So, it is mostly left to the institution to assure its own quality. To be clear, we believe that most institutions take issues of quality seriously; setting up processes that allow faculty members on the home campus oversight of the hiring and curricular practices at the branch campus and making sure that programs offered to international students meet the same standards expected of all students. On paper, at least, it can all look quite solid.
However, despite the rules and regulations, constantly monitoring the activities of entity that operates thousands of miles away—particularly if the entity is not viewed as part of the core mission—is difficult to achieve via the typical university committee structure. And, let us not forgot that the diploma mill activity at Dickinson State occurred right here in the United States. This highlights another problem with the oversight of internationalization—international activities are often justified in terms of the potential revenue streams they provide. A nod to the creation of global citizens, of course, but the cynical selling point is that they bring more resources to the home campus. Again, it is not the typical case we describe, but rather a scenario that relies solely on institutional actors to guard against trading quality for profits that brings us pause.
Internationalization is an important goal, which almost by definition extends the university beyond its typical external oversight structure. Should internationalization activities remain the almost exclusive domain of the institution or does external oversight need to play a more substantial role?

The 25th anniversary celebrations of the Erasmus Programme were launched at a press conference by the Commissioner responsible for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, Androulla Vassiliou.
She was joined by 66 "Erasmus ambassadors" from the 33 countries participating in the scheme. One student and one staff member have been chosen to represent each country, based on the impact Erasmus has had on their professional and private lives.
During a 1 ½ day launch conference the Erasmus ambassadors discussed the programme's impact and shared their vision for its future while working on an "Erasmus Manifesto", which will be unveiled during the Danish EU Presidency conference on "Celebrating Erasmus 25 years past achievements and future perspectives" in Copenhagen on 9th May 2012. In addition, the Erasmus ambassadors were awarded during a ceremony in Théâtre de Vaudeville for their commitment to the programme by Commissioner Vassiliou and were received by the newly elected President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.
Please see the pictures, read and listen to the stories of the ambassadors or follow the conference highlights:
Conference programme "Launch of the 25th anniversary of the Erasmus Programme 2012" (Brussels, 30th to 31st January 2012).
Meet the Erasmus ambassadors.
Press conference video.

By Eric Kelderman. In some circles, online education has a bad reputation. Accusations that some for-profit companies prey on unsuspecting students to rake in federal financial aid have led to image problems for the sector. Critics see online education, offered in particular by for-profit colleges, as the dark underbelly of higher education, with the quality of Internet courses second to the greed of unscrupulous investors.
And now the critics are counting on accreditors to clean up the problems. The U.S. Education Department has issued new regulations to keep distance educators in check, and has pressured the groups that accredit colleges and universities to keep a tighter rein on those that offer online courses. Members of Congress blame accreditors for lax oversight of online programs that have engaged in alleged fraud and deception.
Accreditors counter that they are adapting to the fast-growing world of online education by requiring colleges to prove that students learn as much in distance courses as in face-to-face classes. Doubts about the merit of online education are less about quality and more about the business practices of for-profit colleges, the accreditors say. Because of that, they argue, their agencies are being asked to regulate issues outside their domain.
"What appears to be happening is that policy makers are asking accreditors to do things that they traditionally have not been doing," says Michale S. McComis, executive director of the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, a national organization that accredits about 800 private, for-profit institutions. "The Department of Education has a role to play, states have a role to play, and we have a role to play," he says. "Accreditation is not the only line of defense."
Accreditation of online courses has evolved as such programs have grown from a small niche in higher education to a staple at both nonprofit and for-profit colleges. The current tensions are just the latest surrounding the academic-accreditation process, which has involved a patchwork of accrediting groups and competing interests since it took root, in the late 19th century. Accreditation sets basic standards of academic quality, and then peer-reviewers assess whether colleges are meeting those standards, which vary by the type of accrediting agency. There are now six regional accrediting groups, which oversee a wide range of institutions, including community colleges, research universities, and for-profit colleges. There are also seven national accreditors that focus on a particular type of institutional mission, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges and the Distance Education Training Council, which accredits only colleges that offer most of their courses online. Regulatory requirements for accreditation increased with the college-enrollment booms that followed World War II, further complicating the process. In particular, the 1965 Higher Education Act made students' eligibility for federal student aid contingent upon their colleges' accreditation.
When online learning got under way, in the 1990s, the attitude of most accrediting groups was to treat it like something completely different from classroom learning, says Philip A. Schmidt, associate provost for compliance and accreditation at Western Governors University. The private, nonprofit, all-online university, which began offering courses to a few hundred students in 1999, now enrolls more than 25,000 students from across the country and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, one of the six regional accrediting agencies, and also by the Distance Education Training Council.
When online learning "was something very new, 15 years ago, we thought, Whoa, we need to look at this," says Sylvia Manning, president of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The regional accrediting group counts all but a few of the nation's largest for-profit colleges among its member institutions.
The six regional accrediting agencies responded to the early growth of distance education by adopting in 2001 a common set of broad standards meant to determine if a college is well suited to offer online courses and if it is using the best practices to deliver them. Those guidelines, which were revised in 2006, recommend, for example, that colleges show evidence that faculty members who teach online courses have been appropriately trained to use the medium, and that student-support services are sufficient.
Until the past year, students were flocking to online education. Nearly a third of all students in higher education took at least one course online in 2009, according to an annual report of the Sloan Consortium, a nonprofit group that studies and promotes online learning. As overall college enrollments grew 2 percent from 2008 to 2009, the number of students in online courses increased by 21 percent, the Sloan study found. Nearly two-thirds of the colleges surveyed—both for-profit and nonprofit—said online learning was a critical part of their strategic plans.
And with the growth of distance education, accreditors have begun to realize that online courses can be just as good, or as bad, as face-to-face courses, says Ms. Manning. Instead of focusing solely on the differences in the two settings, she says, accreditors are moving to consider what students are learning in both sectors. But many people still recognize that online education must improve in key areas of retention and graduation, says Thomas J. Snyder, president of Ivy Tech Community College, in Indiana, which has had a 60-percent increase in enrollment in online courses over the past five years. Ivy Tech, the state's public, two-year college system, has put in place extra assessments to determine whether students are prepared for the self-discipline and demands of online courses.
With large numbers of students dropping out of online programs, determining which students will succeed has become a widespread concern, says Mr. McComis, of the accrediting group for career colleges. "What we've always said ... is that online education is not for everybody."
As the number of online students has risen, so has the amount of federal student aid that is used to pay for distance education. The hundreds of for-profit colleges that rely heavily on online education receive nearly 90 percent of their revenue from federal student aid. And those funds do not include dollars paid through the G.I. Bill, which provides tuition benefits to veterans and their families, who are aggressively recruited by for-profit colleges. The growing amount of federal tax money paying for online education has attracted the attention of the Education Department and some members of Congress, who are concerned that for-profit colleges are putting profit ahead of educational quality.
In late 2009, the Education Department's Office of the Inspector General recommended limiting, suspending, or terminating the accrediting authority of North Central's Higher Learning Commission, which oversees colleges in 19 states in the middle of the country. The proposed penalties were the result of the commission's decision to accredit American InterContinental University, a for-profit college owned by the Career Education Corporation. The inspector general was concerned that some students who took some classes online were receiving too much credit for the short duration of the courses.
The inspector general's report sparked a Congressional hearing in June 2010—one of many held by Democrats to probe the practices of for-profit colleges and online education and accreditation—and a stricter new rule defining credit hours. Accreditors were also brought before Congress in August 2010, when an investigation by the Government Accountability Office alleged widespread abuses in the recruiting and enrollment of students at for-profit colleges.
There are signs that the stricter regulatory environment is having an impact. New-student enrollments at the 10 largest for-profit colleges were down an average of 14 percent this year, according to company financial disclosures and analysts' reports. And accreditors are starting to take a harder look at the business operations of for-profit colleges, in part to prevent even greater involvement by state and federal regulators.
The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, a national group that reviews more than 850 career-oriented colleges, has introduced an optional category of accreditation. It would require companies that own such colleges to demonstrate that they have adequate policies to prevent misbehavior. Under the new model, which is now a pilot program at two colleges, the council will look at the companies' strategic and financial planning and how they plan to maintain educational quality as enrollments grow.
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a regional accreditor, is considering far-reaching changes to allay concerns about Bridgepoint Education, a for-profit company that is seeking accreditation. Bridgepoint, which operates two small campuses in Colorado and Iowa, enrolls nearly all of its 80,000 students online. It has been called a "scam" by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, who cited because of its high dropout rate, low per-student spending, and eye-popping executive compensation. Ralph A. Wolff, president of the Western accrediting group, says Bridgepoint's finances will be independently audited. Bridgepoint did not respond to requests for comment. Western is considering making its accreditation reports public and requiring institutions to set actual benchmarks for retention and graduation.
Bridgepoint's Iowa campus was originally accredited by North Central's Higher Learning Commission, after the company bought a small, private nonprofit college in the state. The commission no longer automatically grants accreditation in such transactions. Last year, for example, it denied a request to transfer the accreditation of Dana College, a small, religiously affiliated college in Nebraska, to a group of private investors seeking to buy it. Dana has since closed.
Many people in the field think accreditation agencies are being burdened with issues beyond their reach. Accreditors have neither the staff nor the legal authority to conduct actual investigations. And accreditation reviewers are volunteers, usually from peer institutions, who are experts in higher education but not corporate malfeasance. There is widespread discussion about overhauling accreditation in the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, in 2013 at the earliest. Suggestions include no longer making accreditors the gatekeepers for federal financial student aid. That would, however, remove accrediting agencies' greatest leverage over institutions. Accreditation should primarily be about preserving and improving the quality of an education, while allegations of fraud and deception in disbursing financial aid should fall to federal regulators, says Ms. Manning, of the North Central accrediting group.
"One important thing to remember, which is often forgotten, is that it is not the case that accreditation is the only thing that stands between an institution and access to federal student financial aid," she says. "Accreditation is a gatekeeper but not the sole gatekeeper."

Selon la dernière enquête de l'agence internationale Quacquarelli Symonds, Paris, Lyon et Toulouse figurent dans le palmarès des 50 villes du monde préférées des étudiants. Ces derniers ont plébiscité le brassage international des étudiants, le nombre et l'intérêt des formations. Voir aussi Paris meilleure ville étudiante au monde, Paris first - QS Best Student Cities in the World 2012 et London 'second to Paris in best student cities'.
Laurent Wauquiez, ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, se félicite que trois villes universitaires françaises, Paris, Lyon et Toulouse, figurent dans le palmarès des 50 villes du monde préférées des étudiants, selon la dernière enquête de l'agence internationale Quacquarelli Symonds.
Paris figure à la première place, Lyon à la quatorzième place, et Toulouse à la quarante-sixième place du classement "QS Best Student Cities 2012". Le ministre se félicite tout particulièrement que le brassage international des étudiants, le nombre et l'intérêt des formations aient été plébiscités par les étudiants.
Laurent Wauquiez a indiqué que ce classement confortait la politique volontariste menée depuis cinq ans pour renforcer l'attractivité internationale des universités. Il a rappelé que cette attractivité reposait sur deux piliers: la valorisation de l'excellence de l'offre de formation et l'amélioration des conditions d'études.
L'autonomie a donné aux universités les moyens de définir leurs stratégies internationales, en fonction de leurs besoins et de leur ancrage territorial. Ces réformes ont favorisé le regroupement en une vingtaine de Pôles de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur (PRES) à visibilité mondiale et ont renforcé la lisibilité du paysage universitaire français.
Laurent Wauquiez a indiqué que les universités s'étaient servies de leurs nouveaux outils pour développer les partenariats internationaux, qui encadrent la mobilité afin d'abaisser son coût pour les étudiants des classes moyennes et défavorisées et de maximiser les chances de réussite des étudiants.
Il a souligné le caractère inédit de l'Opération Campus, effort sans précédent de 5 milliards d'euros pour améliorer les conditions d'accueil et la qualité des équipements. Cet investissement fait émerger les campus du 21e siècle et met nos universités en position de rivaliser avec les plus grandes universités étrangères
Enfin, il a rappelé que l'attractivité internationale de nos universités reposait également sur un coût des études qui n'est pas prohibitif pour les classes moyennes et défavorisées et sur un système d'aides généreux. Les frais de scolarité des universités publiques sont en France parmi les plus bas des pays de l'O.C.D.E. (en France: 177 euros en licence, 245 euros en master), ils sont plus de deux fois moins chers qu'en Espagne, 4 fois moins chers qu'en Italie et 10 fois moins chers qu'aux Etats-Unis ou au Royaume Uni. Le système  d'aide directe aux étudiants est l'un des plus complets dans le monde grâce aux bourses et aux aides au logement.

On 8-9 December in Aghveran, Armenia, a Bologna Seminar on student participation in higher education governance was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, the European Students’ Union and the Council of Europe. The objective of the seminar was to look into topical issues of student participation in higher education governance and quality assurance, from institutional to national and international levels, outlining the main problems and obstacles, looking for examples of good practice and proposing a way forward.Link to the documents and presentations from the seminar.
1. Programme
2. Final Report
byMilica Popovic, General Rapporteur
3. Presentations:

· -“Student participation: main developments and challenges”,
Dr Manja Klemenčič, Post-doctoral researcher, Centre for Education Policy Studies, University of Ljubljana

· -“Mapping the status of student participation in Europe”
Karl Agius, member of Social Affairs Committee of ESU

· -“National policy on student participation in institutional governance: example of Finland”
Dr Terhi Nokkala, Research Fellow, Finnish Institute for Educational Research

· -“National policy on student participation in institutional governance: example of Germany”
Mr Bastian Baumann, Higher Education Consultant

· “Student-Centred Learning and its Challenges in Europe”
Prof Jussi Välimaa, Institute for Educational Research of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland

· “The Challenges from Budapest: the ESU declaration”
Dr Per Nyborg, former Chair of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research and Head of the Bologna Secretariat from 2003-2005 (Norway)

· Powerpoint Presentation of the Final Report
By Milica Popović, General Rapporteur

8 cadres séniors sur 10 considèrent que les carrières sont bloquées. Comment les cadres séniors se perçoivent-ils? Et quelles sont leurs perspectives professionnelles? Une étude de l'Apec apporte des réponses.
Le rose et le noir. Lorsqu’on demande aux cadres séniors, comment ils estiment être perçus dans leur entreprise, les réponses les plus fréquentes ont une tonalité positive: 55% disent être appréciés ou considérés sur le plan professionnel, 63% jugent que les compétences professionnelles des séniors sont autant reconnues que celles des jeunes et 67% affirment que les possibilités de formation sont les mêmes pour tous. Mais d’autres réponses témoignent d’une perception négative. Ainsi, une minorité estime que les plus de 50 ans représentent un poids financier pour l’entreprise (35%), qu’ils subissent une forme de pression pour quitter leur emploi (17%) ou qu’ils constituent un frein à l’évolution des plus jeunes (11%).
Des envies d’évolution. S’il est des cadres qui semblent usés par une longue carrière, au point pour certains de ne plus s’investir dans le travail et dans l’entreprise, d’autres séniors sont investis dans leur activité professionnelle et se disent reconnus dans leur entreprise. D’ailleurs, ces derniers envisagent volontiers de travailler plus longtemps et de poursuivre leur trajectoire professionnelle. Pour autant, 8 cadres séniors sur 10 considèrent que les carrières sont bloquées à partir d’un certain âge, le plus souvent à partir de 45 ans.
Ici… ou ailleurs. Une majorité de séniors envisage, à court terme, de poursuivre leur parcours dans leur entreprise actuelle. Leurs compétences y sont reconnues, ils utilisent leurs qualifications professionnelles ou encore des possibilités d’évolution sont toujours possibles. Un bémol : quelques uns estiment qu’il leur serait désormais (très) difficile de trouver un emploi ailleurs. Malgré cela, ils n’ont pas abandonné toutes velléités de départs à plus ou moins long terme. Plus des 2/3 des cadres envisagent de changer d’entreprise avant de prendre leur retraite.
Source : Apec, Les séniors en entreprise: état des lieux 2011, janvier 2012.

By Judith Burns. London has come second, beaten only by Paris, in a ranking of the world's 50 best cities for students. Researchers considered cities with populations of more than 250,000 and home to two or more top universities. They looked at affordability and quality of life as well as the number and reputation of universities.
Ben Sowter, lead researcher on QS Best Student Cities, said that though London had more world class universities than Paris it was more expensive.
London scored well on the quality and reputation of its universities, including Imperial College, University College London and King's College London. The two cities did similarly well on quality of life, student mix and how well employers rated their universities as a source of good recruits. But fees - calculated in this survey as £20,000 a year for international students from outside the European Union - meant that London lost out against Paris, where they are just £1,000 a year.
Mr Sowter said: "While high tuition fees make London a far more expensive proposition than Paris, London's array of world-class universities means it is worth the investment for many student."
Burger prices
The ranking is primarily aimed at international students who are considering where to study. The research team considered nearly 500 cities, shortlisted just under 100 and are publishing the top 50. They looked at indicators such as "quality of life", which included measures of crime and the cost of living. They also looked at student mix which includes both the overall number of students and proportion from overseas. Measures of affordability included the cost of a burger and the amount charged for tuition.
Mr Sowter explained; "Neither Paris nor London are cheap cities but it was the cost of tuition fees in London that pushed London's rating down by 13 points."
Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, said the ranking was a testament to the hard work of London's universities and students' unions to attract students from around the globe. But he warned: "If London is to continue to be such an attractive place to study we need to see urgent action to address the spiralling cost of student living.
"It poses a real threat to the affordability of studying in the capital and therefore to the future sustainability of this world renowned status."
"We should remember that studying in a big city is the right choice for some, but it's not for everyone.
"We are proud of our campuses across the UK in offering a range of learning and living environments for those not lured in by the bright lights."
The fact that the ranking only looked at large centres of population meant that some of the UK's best known university cities were left out. But other UK cities scored well, with Manchester coming 35th, Birmingham 47th and Glasgow 50th.

Extraits
Le Président de la République vient de proposer une grande réforme de la formation professionnelle, qui doit être au cœur de la bataille pour l’emploi.
Immédiatement, j’ai entendu des cris d’orfraie venant d’hommes et de femmes qui souvent d’ailleurs n’avaient même pas lu ce qui avait été dit par le Président de la République.
Quelle est la situation ?
Nous dépensons 31 milliards pour la formation professionnelle.
De l’autre côté, nous dépensons des milliards pour indemniser les demandeurs d’emploi et nous n’arrivons pas à faire en sorte que ces demandeurs d’emploi bénéficient de la formation professionnelle qui est financée par ailleurs par les entreprises, par la fiscalité, c’est-à-dire par chacun de nos concitoyens.
Ce que nous voulons demain, c’est que tous les demandeurs d’emploi, en tout cas tous ceux qui sont demandeurs d’emploi un certain temps, puissent accéder à une vraie formation professionnelle qualifiante, soit pour améliorer leurs capacités, pour améliorer leur savoir-faire, pour pouvoir être plus efficace, pour pouvoir gravir des échelons demain dans leur emploi, soit pour apprendre un nouveau métier parce qu’ils ont été formés à des métiers qui sont des métiers en voie de disparition.
Il ne s’agit bien sûr pas d’obliger.
J’entendais les micros qui se tendent avec rapidité. Alors on interroge un ingénieur et on lui dit « est-ce que vous seriez d’accord pour devenir demain, pour tenir la caisse d’un supermarché ? ».
Qu’est-ce qu’il faut être bête pour poser une question pareille, pour ne pas se rendre compte de l’absurdité qu’il y a à détruire une idée qui mérite un vrai grand débat national par un raccourci aussi stupide !
Qui peut nier qu’il y a un énorme gâchis à laisser 90% des demandeurs d’emploi sans formation ? 90% des demandeurs d’emploi aujourd’hui ne bénéficient d’aucune réelle formation professionnelle qualifiante.
Alors, nous avons depuis plusieurs années tenté des réformes de la formation professionnelle pour essayer de répondre à cette question ; j’en ai moi-même conduit une en 2003.
Elle avait fait l’objet d’un accord unanime des partenaires sociaux. Je m’étais félicité de cette unanimité mais je me suis rapidement rendu compte que quand il y a unanimité des partenaires sociaux sur ce sujet, c’est que rien ne bouge parce que la vérité, c’est que la formation professionnelle est un sujet tabou dans les relations sociales.
C’est 31 milliards d’euros. C’est beaucoup d’argent qui souvent participe au financement de l’ensemble des organisations qu’elles soient patronales ou qu’elles soient syndicales. C’est en tout cas un sujet qui est une sorte de chasse gardée de toute une série de groupements qui veulent garder leur autonomie et conserver l’argent de la formation professionnelle pour eux-mêmes.