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By Chris Parr. The number of Americans taking full undergraduate degrees in the UK has risen by almost 30 per cent in the last four years, new figures show.
A record 4,346 US students were registered on UK undergraduate degree courses in 2012-13, according to data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, which represents a 4 per cent rise when compared with the previous year.
It means that the number of Americans pursuing their first degree in the UK has risen by 28 per cent since 2008-09, and comes as figures from Ucas show an 8 per cent rise in US applicants for programmes starting in 2014-15. More...

By David Matthews. The budget for universities in Scotland will remain almost exactly the same in cash terms in 2014-15, the Scottish Funding Council has confirmed.
A total of £1,066 million will be split between teaching, research and other projects and grants next academic year, very slightly down on 2013-14, when the overall budget was £1,074 million.
The council said that £18.5 million would be spent on creating 3,300 new university places, the majority for those from poor backgrounds or those articulating from college. More...

By Chris Parr. Find out how academics and professional and support staff feel about working in UK higher education.
Academics love what they do but hate the way that their profession is changing – right? And professional and support staff are more empowered than ever; in fact, they are running the show – correct?
If you were to listen only to the more voluble critics of the state of the higher education workplace in 2014, you could be forgiven for holding such black and white views. The reality, of course, is far more nuanced. More...

By Holly Else. Commissioner tells academics to ‘get cracking’ on proposals.
The European Commission is expecting UK researchers and businesses to win up to £2 billion in grants over the next two years under its Horizon 2020 funding programme.
Màire Geoghegan-Quinn, European commissioner for research, innovation and science, made the claim at the official launch of the €80 billion (£65.62 billion) research and innovation programme at the Royal Society in London today. More...

By Jack Grove. The number of university applicants has grown by 4 per cent, despite a falling population of young people, new figures show.
Some 580,000 applicants applied to higher education courses in the UK by 15 January, the main deadline for university applications, far higher than at the same point last year, according to statistics published by the admissions body Ucas on 31 January. With the number of 18-year-olds 1 per cent lower this year, it means application rates for young people across the UK are at, or near, their highest levels. More...

By David Matthews. University scholarships make up quarter of money donated.
The United Nations has criticised wealthy countries for the way they provide educational aid to poor countries, claiming that their focus is on university scholarships rather than help for schools in the poorest nations.
A quarter of all educational aid takes the form of scholarships for students to study at university in rich countries, which amounted to $3.2 billion in 2010-11 (£1.95 billion), says a new report, meaning that the money often never actually leaves the donor country. More...

By John Morgan. A private college “supplied misleading information” that led to students wrongly gaining access to public-backed loans, according to the government.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills said today that it had never granted “designation” – giving students access to Student Loans Company funding – to ICE Academy’s campuses in Manchester, Bedford and Croydon.
News that SLC funds have been incorrectly paid out to a private college will be a further embarrassment to BIS. More...