By Nadine Wilson. THE island's education administrators are hoping that Parliament will this year pass legislation empowering them to ensure compulsory registration of all tertiary institutions and to close those performing below standard in order to protect students.
"We have in excess of 54 tertiary institutions for a population of 2.7 million and not all of them are meeting the standard, because it is possible to register your company as a university and begin offering [programmes] and these are some of the things that we hope to avoid," said Jean Hastings, director of the Education System Transformation Programme. Read more...

By EAIE President - Gudrun Paulsdottir. Spending the week at the NAFSA conference in Houston, Texas, I have discovered that the buzz phrase of the week is ‘comprehensive internationalisation’. For those of you engaged on the policy and strategic level of internationalisation of higher education, this is something that you may have a particular interest in. It will certainly be something that our American colleagues will refer to when discussing the approach to internationalisation.
Comprehensive internationalisation can be defined as “internationalisation that is seen as pervading the institution and affecting a broad spectrum of people, policies and programmes, leads to deeper and potentially more challenging change….[and is] a broad, deep and integrative international practice that enables campuses to become fully internationalised.”
The concept saw daylight about a year and a half ago and has become ‘the thing’ in the USA. A paper was written on it by John K Hudzik, Comprehensive Internationalisation: from concept to action.
At almost every conference in the US, the topic is present and discussed from various perspectives. From a European point of view, the topic is interesting. I have, on a couple of occasions, had the opportunity to present on the subject and found it to be a very relevant concept. It is a good, comprehensive definition of what we have been trying to accomplish in Europe over the last 5–10 years. That does not mean that we know it all, nor that we have achieved it all, but it does put a good name on our endeavours and will be of help in channelling our future efforts, clarifying our strategies and establishing our priorities. Furthermore, and this is perhaps the most important part, it helps us to identify and document our achievements so far. By using the comprehensive internationalisation concept as a reference, I’m sure that you will find out that you have done more and achieved more than you were previously aware of.
I would like to invite you to a discussion on how you think this concept can contribute to the internationalisation process in Europe? Is it of interest to explore further? Could the EAIE contribute to the concept in any way?

George Leef reminds us of the Bennett Hypothesis and its recent modern update: that federal aid leads to greedy colleges and increased tuition for all.
George Leef, writing for The John William Pope Center For Higher Education Policy, contends that federal student aid has failed the US education sector and has resulted in students learning less than they used to while paying much more in costs.
The federal government’s major student aid programs began as part of President Johnson’s Great Society in 1955. The reasoning was that as graduation improved the economic worth of an individual to the nation as well as themselves so by subsidizing the cost of education and making it affordable to more people the nation would benefit.
- Opposition to federal student aid was negligible. The idea sounded so good.
Leef argues that the practical experience of and result from the federal aid program has been much different than expected with several unforeseen negative side effects.
- If President Johnson had said, “Let’s subsidize students to go to college so that colleges can charge much more and students can decrease their learning effort,” he would have gotten no support for the legislation. Nevertheless, it seems that we have achieved both of those undesirable outcomes.
Leef’s idea is not new. In 1987, quarter of a century ago, the Secretary of Education at the time, William Bennett, argued that a combination of the federal student aid program and greedy colleges exploiting the system were responsible for the rising cost of tuition.
Leef’s commentary comes after a recent paper by Andrew Gillen and published by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, called ‘Introducing the Bennett Hypothesis 2.0’. Gillen argues that the original hypothesis that federal aid enables colleges to increase charges was correct. He also refines the hypothesis to state that not all aid is created equal. For example federal aid specifically targeted at low income student doesn’t lead to an overall increase in degree charges.
Gillen also explores the relationships between tuition caps and selectivity. Basically, if a school has a tuition limit set by the state government then the result of an increase in federal aid is simply that the school can be more selective of which students are admitted. However if no tuition cap exists and a school is also free to price discriminate amongst it students then there exists a recipe for revenue maximization.
Leef draws a comparison between the effect of federal interference in the housing market (where the results are now apparent) and federal interference in the education sector (where the results are becoming apparent).
- Prior to federal intervention in student aid, students in high school had strong incentives to excel so that they would have a chance at college if they wanted it. And because they paid most of the (much lower) cost, they took their studies more seriously if they eventually enrolled.
- The virtues of the old education system were undermined by easy federal money in exactly the same way easy federal money undermined the housing finance system.

By Nick DeSantis. The Saylor Foundation has been building an online catalog of free, self-paced college courses since 2010. But students who completed those courses could not typically earn credit toward a degree, since the nonprofit group is not an accredited institution. Saylor’s new partnership with the online course-provider StraighterLine seeks to change that, giving students an inexpensive way to earn academic credit using freely available materials.
The collaboration, announced today, will give students two different ways to save money when pursuing academic credit. Beginning in the fall, students can study free courses on Saylor.org and then enroll at StraighterLine to take an exam. After passing, they will receive American Council on Education recommended credit.  Students could also enroll in a StraighterLine program, using Saylor’s free course materials as they go along.
Alana Harrington, director of the Saylor Foundation, said her group’s repository of free online courses won’t go anywhere, and will still grant certificates of completion. But the partnership with StraighterLine will give students a way to get credit for low-cost online courses that’s more meaningful than a certificate.
“We understand the fact that to some students, the pure acquisition of knowledge or the certificate proving their competency isn’t enough,” she said. “Credit is a form of currency today.” The two groups have not yet decided which Saylor courses students can take for credit through the new program.
StraighterLine and the Saylor Foundation will also team up with George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College to offer students an easier method of transferring credits between the institutions.

By Andy Metzger. A 40-page study discussed at the capitol Thursday concludes investments in public higher education diplomas and college certificates might provide the best chance at improving the Massachusetts economy, but state lawmakers have no plans yet to increase funding to levels recommended by the study’s authors.
“I think the challenge before us is how do we fund this,” said Joint Committee on Higher Education Co-Chairman Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, discussing a paper by two UMass academics that argues state funding of higher education should be nearly doubled.
The paper, “Economic Impact of Investment in Public Higher Education in Massachusetts: Short-Run Employment Stimulus, Long-Run Public Returns,” argues that an $800 million boost to higher education would produce an extra 11,200 graduates per year, lead to a roughly $740 million gain in income tax revenues, and generate a better payoff than that same investment in casinos, health care or a tax cut.
“In other words, a dramatic increase in the state’s investment in public higher education is an exceptionally good deal for the entire Commonwealth and should be vigorously pursued by policy makers,” the study concludes.
Speaking before lawmakers on Thursday morning, the paper’s authors Michael Ash, an economics and public policy professor, and Shantel Palacio, a public policy and administration graduate student, said public higher education is underfunded by $800 million. Their paper assumes an increase in higher education spending of that amount could be funded by a tax increase, an idea not currently on the table among Beacon Hill leaders, with resulting job increases outpacing those lost due to the tax hike.
According to Ash and Palacio, an $800 million spending boost to higher education would produce between 11,766 and 13,470 jobs – both directly, through the hiring of professors and construction workers to build new buildings, and indirectly by creating jobs for vendors and others, according to the study. After accounting for jobs lost due to the tax hike, the net new jobs from the investment would be 6,580 in the first two years, with a net increase of 8,284 in subsequent years.
Casinos would produce about 1,200 or 1,300 fewer jobs, even accounting for the vendors and others who would benefit from the investment, the paper states. Another $800 million spent on health care would only do slightly better than casinos, and tax cuts – which would not create any jobs directly – wouldn’t even do half as well at job creation as the higher education spending, according to Ash and Palacio.
Palacio and Ash also argued that beyond the direct stimulus of $800 million, the new college graduates would cost less and pay more to the state.
“This graduate will pay more taxes, since his or her income will be higher, and will put less of a burden on public services,” the paper says. “No other use of a comparable outlay of public funds can match this one in terms of how it repays the investment.”
The House’s fiscal 2013 budget raises higher education funding to $988 million, up 6 percent from $929 million last year but less than the $1 billion budgeted before the 2008 market crash that led to the Great Recession.
In fiscal year 2009, Massachusetts per capita higher education funding of $196 per person was 33 percent below the national average, leaving the state ranking 45th among the 50 states, according to a December 2011 fact sheet produced by the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts.
“While we have much to be proud of in Massachusetts, there is still much more that we can do,” said Higher Education Co-Chairman Sen. Michael Moore.
The question of what to do next is as much about higher education as it is about economics.
According to Sannicandro, after the G.I. bill funded veterans’ college educations, the percentage of Americans with college degrees jumped from 6 percent to 20 percent.
“That educated workforce is what made us a powerhouse in the world,” said Sannicandro.
The study concludes jobs in higher education, generally pay better than in casinos and construction and are roughly on par with the pay in hospitals – not including doctors. And those professors and teaching assistants produce more college graduates, who boost the economy by drawing on fewer social services, earning more income and staying out of jail more than the population as a whole, according to the paper.
Over a lifetime, the state spends about $100,000 on welfare, unemployment compensation and jail time for the average high school graduate, but only about $34,000 on someone who has received a bachelo’s degree and $54,000 for someone with an associate’s degree, according to the paper.
The paper claims that for the roughly $49,000 it costs for someone to attain a degree from a state school, the graduate adds double that back to state coffers. To the state, the difference between someone with a college degree and a high school diploma is $198,000 over that person’s lifetime – in tax bills for the graduate’s higher earnings as well as the reduced draw on public services such as welfare and Medicaid.
The list goes on for the benefit of a college education – less cigarette smoking, lower divorce rates, greater dependability. The study was prepared with a grant from the Massachusetts Society of Professors.

Par Stéphanie Fontenoy, à New York. Alors que le chômage reste élevé et que les salaires stagnent, les frais d’inscription continuent à s’envoler.
Une majorité des étudiants américains arrivent sur le marché du travail avec une lourde dette.
En 2010, le montant des prêts a atteint pour la première fois la barre symbolique des 100 milliards de dollars.
Stan Williams avait 17 ans quand il a pris la plus importante décision de sa vie: quitter le foyer et s’inscrire à la fac, loin de chez lui. « Je n’avais pas le QI d’un génie pour obtenir une bourse et ma famille n’était pas assez riche pour me payer l’université »,  explique-t-il avec amertume.
Pour payer les frais de sa scolarité, il obtient sans difficulté un prêt étudiant, sans caution parentale. Le diplôme, pense-t-il, lui ouvrira la porte d’un avenir meilleur. « La société vous enseigne que pour avoir un bon travail, acheter une maison et avoir des enfants, il faut avoir fait des études. » 
Dix ans plus tard, son rêve a tourné au vinaigre. Une maîtrise en science sociale en poche suivie d’une année de droit qu’il n’a pas terminée, le jeune homme croule aujourd’hui sous près de 60 000 dollars (45 000 €) de dette étudiante.
L’impression d’être « un fugitif »
Son emploi au sein d’un syndicat et le coût de la vie à New York ne lui permettent pas de rembourser ses mensualités. Ses créanciers le traquent. « Je suis en défaut de paiement,  reconnaît-il. Je ne pourrai plus avoir de carte de crédit, plus de prêt pour une voiture, je ne pourrai plus rien acheter. C’est très dur émotionnellement. Car je suis une personne droite qui considère qu’elle doit rembourser ce qu’elle a emprunté. J’ai l’impression d’être un fugitif. »
Courtisant le vote des jeunes en vue de l’élection présidentielle de novembre, Barack Obama défend la cause des étudiants, comme il l’a fait mardi et mercredi, lors d’une tournée dans trois établissements universitaires publics.
Comme en Caroline du Nord, où il a rappelé aux étudiants boursiers que lui et sa femme Michelle ont été à leur place. « Nous n’étions pas d’origine aisée, nous n’avions pas de familles célèbres »,  a-t-il déclaré, soulignant qu’il y a huit ans, il remboursait encore ses prêts étudiants. Voir l'article entier.

By Daniel de Vise. Harvard and MIT jumped to the front of the free online education movement this week with edX, a $60 million partnership that promises online coursework to the masses from two leading academic brands.
The venture illustrates both the limits and limitlessness of online higher education. On the one hand, the collaboration looks like an unprecedented gesture of intellectual largesse — an “altruistic giveaway,” as Mary Carmichael put it in the Boston Globe. Or, as Harvard President Drew Faust noted in Wednesday’s news conference, “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can have access.” The Chronicle of Higher Education termed it part of an “online education revival,” following the collapse of earlier efforts that proved financially untenable.
It remains to be seen how many citizens of edX’s vast global education community can walk away with credentials for completing a course, or what it might cost. The venture will create access, starting this fall, for literally hundreds of thousands of potential students to some of the greatest minds in academia. There will be no admission gateway — and that’s a significant point, considering how hard it is to get into either Harvard or MIT. (The new undertaking is actually an outgrowth of MITx, a free-to-the-masses online education initiative announced by MIT separately last year.)
But no one taking edX courses will gain access to a credential issued in the name of Harvard or MIT, and that, too, is significant; the online platform will not allow students back-door access to those prized brands. Online learners “who demonstrate mastery of subjects could earn a certificate of completion,” the universities said in a statement, “but such certificates would not be issued under the name Harvard or MIT.” Such credentials would also cost something — the exact sum is yet to be determined. And it’s not clear that every student who wants a certificate from edX will be able to get one.
Herein lies one of the key limitations of online higher education: when it comes to grading papers or tests, and to assessing whether a student has mastered a course, human graders typically must be involved, and suddenly, the universe of students who can be served shrinks to a finite and very modest number. University leaders say they will leverage the venture to spawn research on how students learn, and on how best to educate people online. These two schools and other national universities that have dabbled in online education tend to be picky about the online platforms they choose, and to differentiate — fairly or not — between the quality of their online coursework and everyone else’s.

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal unanimously approved the continued use of racial quotas in the University of Brasilia in a 10-0 vote Thursday. The decision reaffirmed a policy adopted by a number of Brazilian universities to institute the practice of affirmative action in university admissions as a tool to combat racial inequality and improve access to higher education for Brazilians who identify as negro (black) or pardo (brown).
Racial quotas were first instituted in the University of Brasilia in 2004, permitting university candidates who self-identified as black to gain greater access to the university. The policy was challenged in 2009 by Brazil’s Democratas Party (DEM), which brought the case before the high court. Critics of racial quotas in Brazilian universities say that the quotas permit race-based discrimination by allowing race to be a factor in the admissions process. DEM argued that racism was never institutionalized in Brazil as in countries like the U.S. and South Africa, rendering affirmative action unnecessary. According to DEM lawyer Roberta Kaufmann,  “a certain social discrimination” against blacks occurs, but can’t be compared to other countries that  now use affirmative action to combat institutionalized racism.
That assertion was disputed by University of Brasilia lawyer Indira Quaresma, who is black. “Racial democracy does not exist,” Quaresma said. “The black community urgently needs emblematic personalities. Blacks only experience social mobility in soccer, music, and narcotrafficking.”
Judge Ricardo Lewandowski, who opened arguments on the case, said that although he rejected the “biological notion of race”, he acknowledged “the reduced number of negros or pardos who exercize high posts” in Brazil due to “camouflaged or implicit discrimination that still exists in the shadow of a complacent State”.
Joaquim Barbosa, the lone black judge in Brazil’s highest court, cited U.S. President Barack Obama as a successful example of affirmative action policies in the U.S. that Brazil should emulate.
The UN expressed support for maintaining Brazil’s racial quotas, as did African-American film director Spike Lee, who visited with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia on Thursday after a visit to the Supreme Federal Tribunal. The lawsuit against the University of Brasilia is one of several others scheduled to come before the Supreme Federal Tribunal. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and the Universidade Para Todos (Prouni) also face lawsuits for instituting racial quotas.

Lanzamiento de la Convocatoria a los PREMIOS RECLA, actividad que lanzamos este año como parte de las acciones  de nuestra Red con el fin de propiciar un espacio para hacer un especial reconocimiento a nuestra comunidad académica y de gestión de educación continua en  las universidades asociadas.
RECONOCIMIENTOS 2012
RECLA – Red de Educación Continua de Latinoamérica y Europa, creó el Premio como un reconocimiento a la dedicación y al compromiso de las personas o empresas del sector de LA EDUCACIÓN que han realizado una gestión destacada contribuyendo positivamente al mejoramiento económico, social y académico del sector y que por su gestión, sus resultados, iniciativa empresarial y capacidad de liderazgo coadyuvan en el desarrollo de una Educación Continua cada vez más competitiva y de mejor calidad.
Para obtener tal distinción, podrán participar las Instituciones de Educación Superior (públicas o privadas), a través de sus unidades académicas de Educación Continua, y los catedráticos que presten sus servicios en cualquier institución asociada a RECLA, que cumplan con los requisitos que se determinan a continuación en las siguientes categorías:
CATEGORÍAS:
Primera Categoría - Investigación en Educación Continua
Segunda Categoría - Mejores Prácticas en Educación Continua
Tercera Categoría - Responsabilidad Social en Educación Continua
Galardón Especial RECLA - Vida y Obra
Primera Categoría - Investigación en Educación Continua
Premiará a los profesionales y docentes universitarios de las Universidades adscritas a RECLA que desarrollen investigaciones que contribuyan a generar conocimiento científico y se vea reflejado en contenidos de programas de Educación Continua a través del desarrollo de productos y servicios innovadores.( Ver formato de Inscripción)
Criterios de evaluación: Calidad técnica de la investigación Pertinencia con las necesidades de la Educación Continuada, Impactos y beneficios alcanzados con los resultados Creatividad e Innovación
Segunda Categoría - Mejores Prácticas en Educación Continua
Se entregará a la Institución de Educación Superior que se destaque por su compromiso y actividades en pro del desarrollo de una Educación Continuada de calidad alta y valores agregados percibidos por los públicos, en el marco del desarrollo de la sociedad
Criterios De Evaluación: Nivel académico de los profesionales que dictan los cursos Equipos tecnológicos utilizados Nivel de satisfacción de los usuarios directos (trabajadores, personal que recibe la capacitación) e indirectos (empresa, organización y/o entidad de carácter pública o privada). Valores agregados al estudiante Cumplimiento de metas y objetivos, proyecto o estrategia liderada Aspectos logísticos (salones, ayudas audiovisuales, plataformas) Resultados aplicación del proyecto de educación continua, como una buena práctica para mejorar la calidad del usuario y de su entorno
Tercera Categoría - Responsabilidad Social en Educación Continua
Se entregará a la organización que se destaque por su compromiso y actividades en pro del desarrollo de una Educación Continuada responsable que promueva un entorno viable económicamente, socialmente incluyente y ambientalmente amigable.
Criterios de Evaluación: Contribución a la solución de problemática social; Cobertura e impacto de los programas: Número de estudiantes atendidos; Solidez financiera y perdurabilidad en el tiempo; Participación y colaboración interinstitucional; Novedad metodológica e innovación; Ajuste temático y metodológico.
El ganador de cada una de las tres categorías recibirá:
1.- Una Placa y un diploma en ceremonia que se realizará en el Encuentro Internacional anual de la Red.
2.- Una pasantía de una semana en cualquiera de los Centros de Educación Continua representados por los
miembros del Comité Ejecutivo de la RECLA que escoja el ganador. El Comité Ejecutivo recibirá el
ofrecimiento explícito de cada entidad que tendrá a su cargo los gastos de Alojamiento, almuerzos y
acompañamiento al ganador, enseñándole sus mejores prácticas, brindándole facilidades académicas y
administrativas.
El ganador cubrirá sus gastos de tiquetes a la Universidad escogida, previa aceptación de la Institución de
Educación Superior que represente.
Nota: Una Institución no podrá acoger a más de un ganador.
3.- Participación gratuita en un curso virtual organizado y designado por RECLA
LAS IES QUE OFRECEN ESTE PREMIO INFORMARÁN AL COMITÉ EJECUTIVO SU DECISIÓN 3 MESES
ANTES DE LA FECHA DEL ENCUENTRO INTERNACIONAL PREVISTO PARA CADA AÑO. PARA 2012 LA
FECHA MÁXIMA DE CONFIRMACIÓN SERÁ EL 12 DE JULIO DE 2012.
GALARDÓN ESPECIAL - VIDA Y OBRA
A través del premio, se entregará el reconocimiento a una persona que haya dedicado sus esfuerzos y
trabajo al engrandecimiento del Área de Educación Continua a través de sus aportes, investigaciones y logros
nacionales e internacionales.
Consideraciones generales:
Los aspirantes deberán enviar el trabajo y los demás documentos requeridos en la presente convocatoria a la Secretaría Técnica de RECLA, a través de: Correo electrónico: secretaria@recla.org, y por correo físico incluyendo el trabajo y demás documentos, en disco compacto, dirigidos a la Secretaría General de la Red de Educación Continua de América Latina y Europa así: Alexandra Bolaño Pantoja, Secretaria General, Bloque G, Primer Piso Edif. Álvaro Jaramillo V., Centro de Educacion Continuada, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia. Tel: (57) (5)3509509 Ext 4222 - 4223.
Los trabajos presentados podrán ser individuales o grupales y deberán ser enviados por correo electrónico en formato de Microsoft Word. Se debe anexar en todos los casos Curriculum vitae de el o los concursantes y carta de apoyo financiero del representante legal de la institución con la que se este vinculado. Cualesquiera que sean las situaciones no previstas en esta convocatoria serán deliberadas y resueltas por el jurado calificador, quien además tendrá la facultad de declarar desierta alguna categoría o el mismo galardón especial.