Chinese universities will re-introduce paediatrics as an undergraduate major this year for the first time in 17 years. Read more...

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan did not say much about the funding of universities in his Budget speech, except that extra support amounting to R16 billion will go to the higher education system over the medium term (three years), writes Jaco Leuvennink for Times Live. Read more...

Students have called for a bronze statue adorning a Cambridge college to be returned to Nigeria. It was taken from the country in the 19th century, writes Corey Charlton for MailOnline. Read more...

A few universities from Britain are keen to set up local campuses in Malaysia following their interest in the potential of higher education, reports Bernama. Read more...

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh says any decision on professors’ contract renewals will be decided by the public universities themselves, writes Hashini Kavishtri Kannan for New Straits Times. Read more...

Australian universities are making a global push into free online education with nearly 50 courses either scheduled or under way with the major international massive open online course providers, writes Tim Dodd for the Australian Financial Review. Read more...

Tuition fees at US universities have risen five-fold since 1985 and continue to rise. But German universities offer free education to everyone – including Americans, writes Rick Noack for The Washington Post. Read more...

A new report on the gender gap in Scottish universities has suggested that by 2030 no individual course will be permitted to have more than 75% male or female students, writes Andrew Wade for The Engineer. Read more...

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury last week castigated the Bharatiya Janata Party for trying to suppress dissent and impose their idea of a “theocratic, fascistic Hindu Rashtra” on the country, and asked the government to "stop interfering" in universities which have been set up under central laws, reports Press Trust of India. Read more...

Frustrated by soaring tuition costs, crushing student loan debt and a lack of skilled workers, particularly in science and technology, more and more states have adopted the idea of rewarding public colleges and universities for churning out students educated in fields seen as important to the economy, writes Patricia Cohen for The New York Times. Read more...