By Brendan O'Malley. United Kingdom universities have taken the top two places in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the first time in its 14-year history, with the University of Oxford holding onto top spot and the University of Cambridge jumping from fourth to second. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. The prime minister is under mounting pressure to remove international students from the target of cutting immigration from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands a year following the release of new figures showing that nearly all students leave the country on time. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. It is one year since global experts issued a wake-up call to higher education to fight academic corruption more aggressively and urged the sector’s quality assurance systems to take a leading role in the battle. So what progress has been made. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. The number of people who have applied to United Kingdom higher education undergraduate courses for 2017 is down 4% on last year. This includes a 4% drop in applications from the UK and a 5% drop in applications from the European Union. But applications from other countries have risen by 2%. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. Google has influenced academic research by paying millions of dollars each year to academics and scholars who produce papers that support its business and policy goals, according to report published by the Campaign for Accountability or CfA, a non-profit watchdog, which has published a database of alleged beneficiaries. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. Tertiary enrolment is expanding rapidly, with very strong returns for individuals and taxpayers, but new evidence shows that universities can fail to offer, and individuals fail to pursue, the fields of study that promise the greatest labour market opportunities, according to a new OECD report. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. Universities are facing a crisis of public confidence born of being “unfairly categorised as elite, aloof and detached from individuals, communities and day to day challenges”, according to Alistair Jarvis, the new chief executive of Universities UK, in his first public speech. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. Overall, universities from the United States dominate with 48 top 100 universities and 135 top 500 universities. China has 57 top 500 universities and the United Kingdom has 38. In total, 18 universities enter the top 500 list for the first time. More...

By Brendan O'Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Clayton J Plake and Edna Bonhomme, both members of the Campus Antifascist Network, write about how their organisation is mobilising opposition to increasing fascist and far-right threats to students and academics in the US and worldwide. Philip G Altbach and Hans de Wit say it is likely the academic community will carry the burden of maintaining a globalist vision of the university in the face of the rise of nationalist movements and governments.
   Also in Commentary, Peter Scott argues that high vice-chancellor salaries in the UK could become an obstacle to the effectiveness of leaders if they are perceived to be serving knowledge businesses run along corporate lines rather than institutions serving the public good. John Aubrey Douglass and John N Hawkins propose the ‘New Flagship University’ model as an alternative framework for leading universities in Asia, rather than the ‘World-Class University’ model, which they describe as a vaguely defined fad. Alan Ruby and Matthew Hartley say the Indian government’s proposal to create 20 ‘institutions of eminence’ will mean finding a path through a maze of competing options. And Harris Andoh points to a four-decade period during which research at African universities was a ‘lost mission’ and says they have huge challenges to overcome in re-establishing that purpose.
   In World Blog this week, Nita Temmerman writes about the challenges of setting up a new university in a developing country but encourages governments in these countries to tap into the right support and persevere, as the results can be transformative.
   In a Special Report on the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2017 report, which was published last week, Brendan O’Malley gives an overview, highlighting the rapid expansion in tertiary education globally but pointing out some pitfalls. Geoff Maslen looks at the variation in tuition fee charges across the OECD, and in another article highlights Australia’s low public investment in tertiary education compared to other nations. More...

By Brendan O'Malley – Managing Editor. In our World Blog this week, Tom Abeles says the traditional idea of the university is changing, their funding models are up for debate as never before and they are in for a long cycle of disruption as alternatives compete to provide qualifications.
   In Commentary, Miguel Antonio Lim pieces together the puzzle of why university rankings are so influential given the relative scepticism with which they are perceived by academics, while Damtew Teferra explains why it would be wise for the world, especially Africa, to ignore reputation-based global university rankings.
   Also in Commentary, Mariam Aman Shah and David Santandreu Calonge suggest a ‘frugal MOOC’ model to overcome barriers to online education for refugees, and list four critical elements of such a model. And Yves Gingras writes that science funding decisions should be based on evidence-based policies – which scientists usually love to promote – and that concentrating funding in a few hands goes against the data on diminishing returns and does not maximise the probability of scientific breakthroughs.
   In Features, Wagdy Sawahel reports that the rising number of suicides among North African students and graduates has seen the spotlight turned onto the role of universities in supporting vulnerable students, and Jan Petter Myklebust reports on a new protest movement in Norwegian academia that questions the way universities are increasingly being run like businesses. More...