Lack of Success in Experiments Deregulating Public Higher Ed
By Julia Lawrence. A new study from Policy Matters Ohio finds that experiments in deregulating higher education have not met goals such as making college more affordable, increasing access for low-income students or raising the rate of college graduates within the state. The study further concluded that the factors that have most significantly contributed to increased access and low tuition were public support for higher education and increased government money for need-based financial aid.
The report is a response to calls for deregulation of the higher education industry in Ohio in an effort to increase the number of college graduates in the state. Policy proposals that have been considered include lessening of requirements that imposed fiscal and administrative regulations, less government oversight in college and university construction projects and real estate transactions, lifting student caps and allowing each campus freedom to set tuition. Read more...
Britain being hit by rise in graduate 'brain drain'
By Graeme Paton. The number of British students heading overseas for their first job has soared by a quarter in just three years amid fresh warnings over a graduate “brain drain”. Almost 5,200 university leavers sought employment in mainland Europe, the Far East and North America last year – up by 1,000 since the start of the economic crisis. Official figures show that graduates from the very best universities are significantly more likely to be tempted overseas, prompting fears that Britain’s most talented young people were being forced to look abroad for employment during the downturn.
Almost one-in-10 British graduates from institutions such as Cambridge, Durham, Exeter and Oxford who found jobs in 2011 were working overseas. The rate jumped to 12 per cent among British students from St Andrews.
Experts said that in some cases major international corporations were targeting students from the very best universities during annual “milk round” employment fairs. Other students are securing jobs with multinationals based in Britain only to be posted overseas, it was claimed.More...
More students lured to overseas studies
By Beatrice Siu. Nearly 5,000 students who sat the first Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination in April made plans to study overseas, a survey shows.
The Education Bureau said 7 percent, or 4,900 candidates, of those who took the HKDSE - which replaces the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination - said they would study abroad.
The number is four times the 1,200 students - or 4.5 percent - who made the same plans after sitting the HKALE last year, Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim told legislators yesterday.
Education consultants said more students this year inquired or decided to study overseas than in previous years likely because they were worried about the results or were seeking better education. Read more...
Authorities seek to revamp education system
By . In any interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow State University Rector Viktor Sadovnichy shared his view that only a small number of universities deemed ineffective will be shut down. Most of them, he believes, will be restructured. Some rectors claim that they had no idea that their universities were being assessed, and that they were unaware some important decisions could be made based on its findings. Yet, the minister insists that the campaign was agreed upon with the Russian Rectors’ Union and the Association of Leading Russian Universities. Where is the truth?
Viktor Sadovnichy: First of all, we need to keep in mind that the evaluation of universities is based entirely on the logic of the evolution of the quality of higher education and its fundamental nature, which has always been characteristic of our education system. We are assessed and evaluated throughout our lives, and university ratings are another part of this process that has gained popularity in recent years. Read more...
Work visas may prevent foreign student exodus
By Ann Törnkvist. Sweden could become more attractive to non-EU foreign students if it granted them the right to stay in Sweden to look for work after graduation, the Migration Board (Migrationsverket) has suggested in a new report.
Sweden lost more than half of its non-EU foreign students in the year following the 2011 introduction of tuition fees, according to the report. Several other EU countries give students a window of opportunity to find work after graduation. The report recommends that Sweden look into the same option in order not to deprive the Swedish labour market of well-educated employees.
“If this reform is possible politically speaking, I don’t know,” Migration Board researcher Bernd Parusel told The Local.
"I can't issue a recommendation, just suggest they look into it."
The Migration Board also suggests that a student’s spouse be able to work in Sweden. Some parts of the visa process have already been simplified for students. Read more...
Who Says Online Courseware Will Cause the Death of Universities?
By Tom Katsouleas, Dean of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering. He serves as Chair of the National Academy of Engineering’s Advisory Committee on Engineering Grand Challenges for the 21st Century.
In a recent editorial, Ray Kurzweil, futurist and Singularity Chancellor, compared the current university model to the bookstore model, suggesting that universities will be undermined by online the way that digital books undermined Borders. Others have suggested that universities are headed the way of the newspaper. Others have suggested that online teaching represents a new funding model for universities.
Yogi Berra said predictions are hard, “especially about the future.” With that in mind there are a couple of perspectives to take from predictions in old issues of Popular Science or Scientific American: futurists always over-estimate how soon new technology will manifest and researchers in the field always underestimate it. The bottom line, though, is that while online education poses a challenge for universities, they will ultimately improve them. Read more...
US student imports and exports hit record levels
By Chris Parr. The number of overseas students attending university in the US reached a record 764,495 during the 2011-12 academic year, according to figures from the Institute of International Education.The data, published annually in partnership with the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, show a 6 per cent increase on the previous year and reveal that foreign students contributed $22.7 billion (£14.3 billon) to the US economy during 2011-12. The number of international students in US higher education has risen for six consecutive years, and there are now 31 per cent more of them studying at US colleges and universities than a decade ago.
According to the data, the number of Chinese enrolments was up 23 per cent in total, 31 per cent among undergraduates alone - the largest increase at that level. There was also a 50 per cent rise in student numbers from Saudi Arabia, explained by the greater availability of Saudi government scholarships. Read more...
Studying In Canada: We're Failing To Attract Foreign Students, Says Government Study
By Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press. OTTAWA - Canada is failing to attract high-quality university students from China, India and Brazil, internal research commissioned by the Foreign Affairs Department concludes.The findings of the focus groups conducted in those countries represent a setback to the Harper government's ambitious efforts to broaden Canadian trade and investment in the three emerging markets. Initiatives designed to forge educational links have been a feature of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's strategy to deepen economic ties with Asia during his trips to China and India this year.
Meanwhile, Gov. Gen. David Johnston travelled to Brazil in the spring with 30 university presidents in tow, one of the biggest delegations abroad to push the benefits of Canadian education. Polling firm Ipsos-Reid said in its March report to Foreign Affairs that Canada needed to do more to "communicate its post-secondary education advantages" abroad. Despite that conclusion, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird decided two months later to cut a popular program that promoted Canada in foreign universities. More...
Etats-Unis - bientôt des badges en guise de diplômes?
Selon Le Figaro étudiant, des expérimentations sont actuellement menées par de grandes universités américaines en vue de délivrer des badges numériques aux étudiants ayants suivi leurs cours en ligne.Les universités américaines sont actuellement à la recherche d'un outil permettant de certifier les compétences acquises par des étudiants suivant en ligne des cours "à la carte". Les diplômes, qui reconnaissent l'accomplissement d'un cursus complet, s'avèrent en effet inadaptés à ces parcours trop hétéroclites.
Des badges virtuels pour des compétences concrètes
Certains établissements testent donc l'idée de délivrer des "badges". Ceux-ci prendraient la forme de logos représentant la discipline étudiée, dans lesquels seraient stockées des métadonnées contenant "toutes les informations relatives à la formation validée, de l’organisme formateur aux compétences acquises, en passant par les notes obtenues ou la nature de l’examen".
Σύμφωνα με την εφημερίδα Le Figaro Τα πειράματα των φοιτητών που διεξάγονται από πανεπιστήμια των ΗΠΑ να παραδώσει ψηφιακά σήματα αναθέσει στους μαθητές παρακολουθούν μαθήματα τους σε απευθείας σύνδεση. Περισσότερα...Grandes écoles - les élèves de prépas largement minoritaires
Par Olivier Rollot. Seulement 38,5% des étudiants intégrant une grande école sont issus de classes préparatoires selon l'enquête de la Conférence des grandes écoles intitulée « Les voies d’accès aux Grandes Écoles de la CGE: diversité des origines et des profils ». La plus grande part (plus de 45%) a intégré une école par la voie des admissions parallèles et 17,3% après le bac. Ainsi, en quelques décennies, on est passé d’un système prépa + grandes écoles à un toute une gamme de possibilités pour intégrer ces dernières qui va du BTS (5,5% des entrants) au master universitaire 1 (5,6%) en passant par le DUT (10, 6%) ou encore la licence 3 (5,6%). Près de 30% des étudiants sont entrés par voie parallèle avec des niveaux allant de L1 à L3 (CPGE 1A, DUT, BTS, Licences, autres formations Bac+2, autres formations Bac+3). 2,42% ont intégré les écoles avec un niveau M1 ou M2. Suite de l'article...
By Olivier Rollot. Only 38.5% of students entering high school are from preparatory classes according to the survey of the Conférence des grandes écoles entitled "Roads to the Grandes Ecoles CGE: diversity of backgrounds and profiles". The largest share (over 45%) included a school through parallel admissions and 17.3% after the tray. Thus, in a few decades, there has been a great school system prepared + to a wide range of possibilities to integrate them going from BTS (5.5% of entrants) to master academic one (5.6%) through the DUT (10, 6%) or the license 3 (5.6%). More...
