IAU was pleased to welcome the following New Members and one Observer, in March 2013: University of Melbourne, Australia; Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University (XJTLU), China; Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education (NICE), India; S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Kazakhstan; Greenwich University, Pakistan; University of West London, UK; Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saoudi Arabia and the American University in the Emirates (AUE), Dubaï.
University of Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1853, the University of Melbourne is a public-spirited institution that makes distinctive contributions to society in research, learning and teaching and engagement.
Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University (XJTLU) is an international university jointly founded by Xi’an Jiaotong University China and the University of Liverpool UK. As an independent Sino-British venture, XJTLU is a pioneer in the field of higher education in mainland China. The campus is located in the city of Suzhou on China’s Eastern seaboard. In addition to our many local students and staff, XJTLU is rapidly developing its cosmopolitan image and global academic potential by welcoming students and professors from all over the world.
Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education (NICE) - with University status, India. It aims at contributing to the engineering education systems of India, promotes research and innovation, focuses on building linkages with the industry and community. NICE provides instruction and training in Engineering and Technology, Management, Applied sciences, Medical Sciences, Dental Science and Para-Medical Sciences.
S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Kazakhstan, provides teaching and research in the fields of therapeutic treatments, pediatry, public health, management in public health and pharmacy, general medicine, professional training.
Greenwich University, Pakistan. GU's Study programs ranges from Short Courses to Post-Doctoral Fellowships in disciplines fitting the needs of today while choosing the best possible technologies in order to deliver the knowledge required and educate interactively. All study programmes and fields of study are presented online.
Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia. The vision of the founders is to ensure that the University participates in: Preparing future leaders in various fields of human knowledge and its application; Enriching and developing intelligence; Exploring innovative methodologies and technologies to achieve its objectives; Breaking the barrier between the academic and business society. Academic disciplines taught are : Business, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Computer Engineering & Sciences, Graduate Programs, Undergraduate Programs, IT.
The University of West London, United Kingdom's mission is to raise aspiration through the pursuit of excellence. UWL’ vision is to be one of the leading employer engaged universities in the country, playing a major role in taking forward the world class skills agenda; be a business-facing University with a demand-led portfolio, delivered flexibly; continue to be a 'University of choice and opportunity' reaching out to students of all ages and backgrounds; be the leading modern University in London specialising in the generation, application, and transfer of knowledge. UWL’s values are: Creativity; Quality; Inclusiveness; Enabling and empowering all to access education that meets their needs; Diversity; Integrity.
OBSERVER
American University in the Emirates (AUE), Dubai, UAE is one of the largest private not-for-profit liberal higher educational institution in the region with a wide portfolio of programs both Bachelors and Masters, in six colleges namely College of Business Administration, College of Computer Information Technology, College of Fashion Arts and Design, College of Education and College of Media and Mass Communication. AUE is committed to fostering a research-intensive culture and knowledge transfer through student-centered activities.
More about Membership in IAU.

IAU is seeking partner institutions/organisations within its Membership to organise one of the four IAU Collaborative Workshops: A three-step activity to envisage Higher Education for Education for All locally. Workshops will be held in 2013 or 2014.
Since 2005, IAU has been advocating for and advancing the idea for the need of greater inclusion of higher education in the United Nations Education for All (EFA) initiative, both at the global and local levels. In view of this objective, the Workshop brings together high-level representatives from the higher education and research community, the Ministry of Education and other levels/sectors of education, civil society and UNESCO. Challenged to think out of box, participants reflect on their own experience, analyse the local context, and collectively development a concrete plan for a way forward to ensure greater higher education input in achieving EFA. This Workshop is part of the more comprehensive IAU Project on higher education for EFA (HEEFA).
Interested Member institutions/organisations must be located in a non-OECD country. Working language is English or French. Interested parties are invited to read the Partnership Protocol on responsibilities and working modalities and to return a completed application form.
To learn more about IAU's work in HEEFA, visit the IAU HEEFA website and read about previous Workshops.
Deadline for applications: 30 April
Contact: Nadja Kymlicka or Isabelle Turmaine.

Uni-Pay – the specialist payment provider to overseas students, agents and educational institutions, has teamed up with Centurus to deliver a revolutionary new approach to help universities manage applications from overseas students.
This entrepreneurial collaboration by two businesses that focus solely on delivering services to the international education sector, enables universities to take more control of the application process from overseas students and their agents. The link up brings to the market a web-based solution for managing applications from the point of initial enquiry, right through to receipt of deposit payment and enrolment.
As more and more universities seek to grow the number of overseas students that enroll, the ability to engage effectively and positively with applicants right from the point of first contact, can be the difference between securing or losing a new overseas student enrollment. Read more...

By Jeffrey S. Lehman. I believe very strongly in the value of a transnational education. Indeed, I would not be surprised if my colleagues use words like “zealot” and “fanatic” when I am out of earshot. My strong belief is, perhaps not surprisingly, rooted in personal experience: my year of study in the Sweet Briar College Junior Year in France.
The year began with a five-week orientation in the city of Tours. I lived with four classmates in the home of a woman whose interest in us was overwhelmingly financial. She plastered her home with signs reminding us that use of electricity was prohibited; all our electronic devices had to run on batteries. Dinners were usually horse meat or blood sausage, barely warmed so as not to waste oven gas. Read more...

An agreement between the United Nations refugee agency and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) announced today will allow forcibly displaced persons in various African countries to pursue higher education through online and on-site courses.
“Ensuring access to education is a universal right and a priority for UNHCR in all of its operations,” said the Director of International Protection for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Volker Türk. “Education is a continuum. In addition to primary and secondary education, UNHCR also wants to provide opportunities for refugee students in higher education, but limited resources have remained a barrier for us.”
The agreement will expand access to online courses currently offered to refugees in Jordan, Kenya and Malawi, where hundreds of refugees are already enrolled on higher education classes and diploma programmes with the Regis University in Denver, Colorado in the United States. Many are also on track to complete certificate courses offered by other Jesuit universities. Read more...

By Caitlin Hurley. Growing up in a rural, Kenyan farming village six hours north of the capital Nairobi, Josephat Kipruto Koima figured an education would give him a better life. Koima, the middle of seven children, focused on his studies and excelled in math and science. He dreamed of becoming a pilot, not of the running careers that have given fellow Kenyans riches and international celebrity. But aviation is not offered in Kenyan universities and the cost of acquiring a pilot’s license is prohibitive.
“For practical reasons, I just let it go,” said Koima. Then, he heard about the Kenya Scholar-Athlete Project (KenSAP) and thought “what if?”
At age 18, Koima had never run a day in his life, at least not anything more than running after the cows or sheep that strayed into neighbors’ farms, or chasing after a tiny soccer ball in boyhood pickup games, or barreling down the rutted 1½-mile dirt path when late for school after milking the cows and taking care of his younger siblings. Yet Koima realized he could improve his chances at being accepted to KenSAP if he excelled at the 1,500-meter tryout that is part of the program’s admissions process. If he earned a place with KenSAP, Koima knew he would likely win a free ride to an elite American college. Read more...

Nikita is an undergraduate student from Russia studying business administration at Ajou University.
As a fluent speaker of Korean and English, he says he's quite satisfied with his college experience.
He hopes to get a job in Korea after graduation, but he does not yet know where to go for more information about employment opportunities.
"In university, we are given academic information, not real information that we can use in practice. When you are faced with after-graduation, faced with choices about what to do, what should I do, yes, it's not enough."
The number of international students in Korea enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs as well as language courses has steadily increased in recent years from about 33-thousand students in 2006, to 89-thousand in 2012. Read more...

Чтобы удовлетворить огромный спрос на высшее образование во всем мире, необходимо еженедельно открывать новый большой университет.
Если говорить о высшем образовании, пользуясь экономическими категориями, можно с уверенностью констатировать наличие на него небывалого спроса. «Сегодня более 30 млн. человек имеют достаточный уровень, чтобы быть зачисленными в высшие учебные заведения, но получают отказ из-за ограниченного количества мест и ограниченных финансовых возможностей. В течение следующих десяти лет (к 2017 году. — Ред.) количество потенциальных студентов, которым будет отказано в доступе в вуз, достигнет 100 млн. Для того чтобы удовлетворить такой поразительный спрос, необходимо уже сегодня еженедельно открывать новый большой университет», — считают Катрин Кессерли и Маршалл Смит, руководители образовательных программ Фонда Уильяма и Флоры Хьюлетт (США). Стоит ли удивляться стремительному росту рынков, связанных с предоставлением образовательных услуг или производством учебных материалов? Так, за несколько последних лет годовой оборот образовательных подразделений одного из крупнейших в мире издательских концернов «Пирсон» вырос на 70% и достиг $7 млрд. Благодаря этому «Пирсон» смог компенсировать скромные показатели деятельности других своих подразделений — книжного издательства Penguin и издательской группы «Файнэншл таймс». Как сообщается в прессе, Калифорнийский государственный университет (четвертый по величине вуз США) заказал «Пирсону» разработку программной платформы для дистанционного обучения своих студентов. Университет надеется с ее помощью убить двух зайцев: увеличить коли­чество студентов и свести к минимуму случаи, когда они прерывают обучение, поскольку не могут совмещать его с работой.