Young refugees accepted by Germany since the beginning of last year will cost the country an extra €67 billion (US$76 billion) to educate and train, according to a new assessment of the bill for the migrant influx, writes David Charter for The Australian. More...

Europe’s battle over public attire for Muslim women moved recently from the outcry over banning ‘burkinis’ in France to a strong call from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing conservative bloc for a ban in Germany on face veils in schools and universities and while driving, writes Alison Smaleaug for The New York Times. More...

The number of students from European Union countries applying to British universities has jumped by 11% – the highest number on record – as worries ahead of the referendum vote led to a scramble for places, writes Javier Espinoza for The Telegraph. More...

A government circular has said that Chinese universities will have autonomy in transferring the intellectual property from scientific research and shall keep all the earnings, reports Xinhua. More...

A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research discovered an established link between the number of universities in a country and its gross domestic product, writes Abby Jackson for Business Insider. More...

Turkey’s crackdown after the 15 July putsch has been swift and expansive, sweeping through the military, judiciary and higher education. More...

Universities should reduce the minimum enrolment quotas to focus on improving training quality, according to the head of the Ministry of Education and Training’s Higher Education Department, Nguyen Thi Kim Phung, reports Viet Nam News. More...

Public and private universities will be required to introduce a mandatory cohesion course in a bid to stem ethnicity in the country’s institutions of higher learning, writes Pharis Kinyua for Hivisasa. More...

By Sharon Dell – Acting Africa Editor. In Africa Analysis, Goolam Mohamedbhai expresses the hope that African governments will reconsider their policy of upgrading polytechnics to universities or, like Mauritius, create institutions to replace the converted polytechnics.
Countries in the global South are rapidly catching up with top student destination countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, according to the director of the Center for International Higher Education at America’s Boston College Hans de Wit, writes Karen MacGregor in a Special Report on the first international symposium of the Higher Education Forum for Africa, Asia and Latin America. Nicola Jenvey reports, among other issues, on the influence of national governments on university leadership and governance.
In Africa News, Munyaradzi Makoni writes about the launch of an African passport by the African Union Commission and its implications for academic mobility, and Esther Nakkazi covers the suspension of loans to over 2,000 students after a probe revealed thousands of ‘ghost’ students and other irregularities.
In World Blog, John Richard Shrock laments that the SAT college entrance test in the United States is moving in the wrong direction, becoming more like the Chinese gaokao which encourages teachers to teach to the test and students to memorise rather than understand.
In Commentary, John Aubrey Douglass and Patrick Lapid contend that the ‘progressive tuition model’, which charges wealthier students more to reduce the cost and debt for poorer students, appears to be working in some US universities. Rankings expert Angel Calderon explains why this year’s Academic Ranking of World Universities brought some surprises, with some institutions experiencing a marked change in standing. More...

By Michelle Paterson – Acting Editor. In Commentary this week, John Aubrey Douglass and Patrick Lapid contend that the ‘progressive tuition model’, which charges wealthier students more to reduce the cost and debt for poorer students, appears to be working in some US universities and is a viable path for maintaining access for lower-income students. Rankings expert Angel Calderon explains why this year’s Academic Ranking of World Universities brought some surprises, with some institutions experiencing a marked change in standing. Goolam Mohamedbhai expresses the hope that African governments will reconsider their policy of upgrading their polytechnics to universities or, like Mauritius, create institutions to replace the converted polytechnics.
In World Blog, John Richard Shrock laments that the SAT college entrance test in the United States is moving in the wrong direction, becoming more like the Chinese gaokao which encourages teachers to teach to the test and students to memorise rather than understand.
In Features, Jan Petter Myklebust unpacks reports by the Norwegian and Danish authorities giving their recommendations for the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme for the period 2018-20.
And, finally, in a Special Report, Nicola Jenvey reports on the launch of the Higher Education Forum for Africa, Asia and Latin America, or HEFAALA, on 20 August in South Africa, and the inaugural HEFAALA symposium that preceded the launch. More...