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22 décembre 2012

US Government’s College Scorecards Plagued by Poor Design

By Julia Lawrence. Before College Scorecards — a tool highly-touted by the White House — can help high school students make informed decisions about their education, those high school students need to be able to understand them. And according to a new study out of the Center for American Progress and authored by Julie Margetta Morgan and Gadi Dechter, they do not.
The scorecards, which list such information as total cost of attendance, graduation rates, the average debt load carried by students — along with the potential earnings of those who graduate with a degree — are supposed to make it easier for potential applicants to get the full picture, all in a format that is consistent from school to school. Yet when four focus groups of high school seniors and juniors were asked their opinion on the new format, they were decidedly unimpressed. Read more...

15 décembre 2012

Boom times and golden goals

Click here for THE homepageBy Elizabeth Gibney. All eyes are on Brazil's academy and its rising research output, generous funding and willingness to team up internationally in a bid to become a major player. Adnei Melges de Andrade is a busy man. As vice-rector for international relations at the University of São Paulo, his office is increasingly the first port of call for visiting ambassadors, ministers and even prime ministers and presidents. His institution, widely seen as Brazil's top university, sometimes receives as many as five delegations a day. "In 2010 we had 88 delegations; in 2011 it was 142," says de Andrade. "This year we had 105 by June, and I think there will be many more."
With higher education budgets in Europe and the US being cut, it is perhaps not surprising that politicians and vice-chancellors across the world are interested in the Latin American giant and its growing spending power. According to one report, The State of Science 2011, produced by the Network of Ibero-American and Inter-American Science and Technology Indicators (RICYT), Brazil invested $24.9 billion (£15.6 billion) in research and development in 2010. Although cuts to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation budget last year may dent this figure slightly, it will still be from a base three times bigger than in 2002. Adjusting for the purchasing power of each currency, Brazil now spends more on R&D than Canada or Italy. The boom in spending has seen a commensurate rise in scientific output. The number of papers by Brazilian authors in the Thomson Reuters Science Citation Index doubled between 1997 and 2007, making the country the 13th-largest producer of science in the world. Approximately three-quarters of researchers in the country work in academia, and a trip to some of Brazil's top institutions reveals ample proof of the fruits of this investment.The University of São Paulo is the top-ranked Latin American institution in the 2012-13 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, at 158, and it is the oldest university in Brazil. Read more...
15 décembre 2012

Brazilian higher education sees general improvement in the last three years

The Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) today announced the General Course Index (IGC), an annual evaluation of courses and Brazilian higher education institutions relating to 2011. 8,665 courses were evaluated to form the grades for 1,387 universities, colleges, and academic centers. According to the Minister of Education, Aloizio Mercadante, there was a general improvement in higher education over the last three years.
The IGC is an index that evaluates undergraduate and postgraduate (masters and doctorates) courses and uses the weighted average of the Preliminary Course Concept (CPC) for undergraduate courses, and the CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) grade for graduate courses.
In 2011, courses were evaluated in the areas of sciences and teaching degrees, in addition to technological courses involving industrial control and processes, information and communication, infrastructure and industrial production. Each area of knowledge is evaluated by the IGC every three years.
According to the ICG, 27% of the courses did not achieve sufficient performance with respect to Ministry of Education parameters and received grades 1 and 2. The minimum grade of the institution required to participate in policies, such as the University for All Program (ProUni) and the Student Financing Fund (FIES), is 3. If the target is not reached, the institution may be penalized. Read more...
14 décembre 2012

Contacts give private pupils edge applying for university

http://bathknightblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/telegraph-logo.jpgBy . Students from poorer backgrounds are being disadvantaged by personal statements when applying to university because they do not have the same contacts to get high-profile work experience placements.
Fresh curbs should be placed on personal statements in university applications to stop the system being used to exploit the “privileged” position of private school pupils, researchers warned today.
New rules are needed amid fears that statements – submitted as part of applications to degree courses – are descending into little more than an “excuse to highlight past advantages”, it was claimed. Read more...
9 décembre 2012

Need to prepare for the next wave of foreign students

http://enews.ksu.edu.sa/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/UWN.jpgBy Rahul Choudaha. A recent commentary in University World News highlighted issues facing US higher education in sustaining international student growth rates. Although some of the concerns raised are relevant, they mask the latent strength in the scale, diversity and capacity of the American higher education system to become a more attractive player in the international student mobility arena.
The concept of international student recruitment in the US is a relatively new development. It gained traction in response to post-recession budget cuts, primarily in public higher education institutions. The external environment prompted institutions to start recruiting international students, but the internal capacities and resources of many were ill prepared for this sudden shift towards a more proactive recruitment model.
Against a backdrop of higher expectations for international enrolment and declining budget support, this lack of internal capacity triggered the adoption of quick turnaround recruitment approaches. For example, several institutions started experimenting with commission-based recruitment agents, anticipating lower upfront costs. These quick-fix practices, however, have created gaps in institutions’ ability to manage the qualitative risks associated with the use of agents and provide adequate support services to meet international student needs. Read more...
7 décembre 2012

Sommet sur l'enseignement supérieur

Sommet sur l'enseignement supérieur - Le système actuel permet-il d'assurer la qualité de la formation universitaire et d'en rendre compte?
Un système rigoureux et non complaisant d'assurance qualité est déjà en place et a fait l'objet de plusieurs révisions. Il permet d'assurer une excellente qualité globale des programmes universitaires reconnue par les employeurs, les étudiants et à l'international. Ce système requiert cependant des améliorations, notamment en ce qui concerne l'optimisation du processus d'approbation des nouveaux programmes, l'efficacité de l'évaluation des programmes existants et la connaissance, par le public, des mécanismes et de leurs résultats.
La question appelle une mise au point sur les sujets suivants:

Lire l'article complet.
Διάσκεψη Κορυφής για την Ανώτατη Εκπαίδευση - Το ισχύον σύστημα επιτρέπει τη διασφάλιση της ποιότητας της πανεπιστημιακής εκπαίδευσης και να συνειδητοποιήσουμε; Περισσότερα...
6 décembre 2012

New Study Examines Public Perceptions, Student Needs Regarding Higher Education in America

Youth TodayLast week, the Brookings Institution held an event titled “Innovation Imperative: The Future of Higher Education,” and centered around a new study released by Northeastern University that examined both public perceptions of higher education in the United States as well as what young Americans today want out of their college and university experiences. Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun began the event by summarizing several key findings from the survey.
“In a period where people are questioning higher education, the overwhelming majority of respondents through the survey believed very strongly that [the] American higher education system is a gem,” Aoun said. He stated that a majority of respondents believed that higher education in the United States needs to be “nurtured,” and that most Americans still believe that college is an essential experience for individuals that desire personal fulfillment and economic success. Read more...
5 décembre 2012

Number of Americans studying in Canada increases

By Sara Welsh. There has been an increase in the number of Americans going to Canada for school while the number of Canadians coming south has decreased.  
Canada offers a higher education at prices comparable to or lower than the out-of-state tuitions of many major American universities. More than 10,000 Americans are working toward their graduate and undergraduate degrees in Canada.
“UBC has received a number of applications from the U.S. in the last several years, with a considerable increase in the last three years,” said Aaron Andersen University of British Columbia’s manager of international recruitment in the Americas, Middle East and Africa, in an email.
The number of Americans heading up for education has increased 33 percent since 2008.  University of British Columbia has more than 1,200 students from the U.S., Andersen said.
For the 2012 winter term University of British Columbia received more than 2,000 applications from the United States.
There are about 27,546 students from Canada in the U.S. and it's the fourth leading place of origin of international students enrolled in U.S. universities. This number is down 2 percent from last year, according to the Institute of International Education. Read more...
5 décembre 2012

Peru: WB to grant US$25mln for education quality improvement

More than one million Peruvian students in higher education, universities and technical institutes will benefit in the next decade from a US$25 million loan approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors for the Higher Education Quality Improvement project – “PROCALIDAD”.
This financing will help more than 250 Higher Education institutions manage their accreditation process and access information relevant to the continuous quality improvement.
One of the first objectives of the project will be a substantial increase in activities related to the self-evaluation and external evaluation of results. As the World Bank announced, it also intends to gather information — via graduated student surveys — on current higher education conditions in the country to guide future reforms.
“PROCALIDAD arrives at an important juncture, as it will have a bearing on university, institute and higher education school improvements through accreditation,” said Patricia Salas, Peru’s Minister of Education. Read more...
2 décembre 2012

Prop 30 decision props up California – for now

http://enews.ksu.edu.sa/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/UWN.jpgBy Alison Moodie. Educators cheered in early November when Proposition 30 passed in California. The unexpected passage of the tax measure, which won by a 54% to 46% margin, is a clear victory for higher education in the state. After four years of relentless budget cuts, the bill will give California’s embattled public university systems some respite by curbing nearly $1 billion in further cuts.
The bill will also mean that college students won’t fall victim to yet another round of tuition hikes, enrolment freezes will be lessened, and hundreds of classes will be reinstated. Read more...
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