Formation Continue du Supérieur

A quelques jours du début d’une nouvelle année qui verra deux célébrations universelles importantes – le centenaire du début de la Première Guerre Mondiale et les 70 ans du débarquement en Normandie – succéder à un rendez-vous électoral majeur pour l’avenir de l’Union européenne, il me paraît indispensable de rappeler une vérité que beaucoup – et, en particulier, un nombre important de responsables politiques – n’ose plus proférer de peur d’apparaître trop simpliste ou oublieux des difficultés présentes : la construction européenne dans laquelle nous nous inscrivons sert d’abord à ne pas faire la guerre… 
Certes, presque 15 ans après les derniers affrontements dans les Balkans, les jeunes générations ont oublié les images tragiques d’Omarska, de Vukovar ou de Srebenica et sont plus enclines à redouter les impasses en termes d’emplois ou à applaudir les opportunités d’enthousiasme offertes par les Emergents, mais il en va de notre responsabilité collective de leur rappeler que depuis la fin de la deuxième guerre mondiale, notre continent a de très loin préféré la paix aux conflits et, cela, parce que les esprits ont été obnubilés non par la victoire ou la défaite mais par la mise en place d’outils bureaucratiques souvent complexes mais qui se sont révélés les meilleurs boucliers contre le déferlement de violence sans précédent que leurs grands-parents ont connu au début du 20e siècle. Suite...

HEFCE and OFFA wrote to all HEFCE-funded institutions in November 2013 to inform them that we would be publishing guidance for Strategies for Access and Student Success (SASS) on Thursday 23 January. HEFCE also previously said it intended to notify institutions of their provisional student number control allocations for 2014-15 on Friday 24 January.
We regret that, due to the delayed receipt of HEFCE’s grant letter from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, we have not been able to finalise our SASS guidance as originally planned and it will not be published on 23 January. HEFCE will also not be able to issue provisional student number control allocations on 24 January. We appreciate that this may cause some difficulties for your institution. More...

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
From analysis to Action, by Gilles Breton, Graduate School of International and Public Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada (Gilles.Breton@uottawa.ca) 
In the midst of all the deliberations currently ranting in the world of higher education, from the financing, privatization, marketing and commercialization of universities, to the latest emphasis being placed on academic research in the new economy of knowledge, via the impact of new technologies on teaching activities, I still believe that the internationalization of higher education constitutes one of the central element of these deliberations, which all correlate to a redefinition of the mission of universities in this beginning of the 21st century. Similarly, I am always convinced that the concept of reflexive-actor, (i.e. a player that mobilizes knowledge to structure his/her/its action) is still what best defines the work of those in charge of international action in higher education institutions.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
How We Did our First Global Tuition Fee Benchmarking Study at Griffith University, by Nicole Brigg, Director International, Griffith University, QLD 4111, Queensland, Australia (n.brigg@griffith.edu.au) 
Any large company with products or services to sell in a global market would be expected to spend considerable time and energy and to apply much science to the central question of how to price their goods/services. Universities are an interesting exception as pricing seems to be influenced by a range of factors including domestic student tuition fees, local competitor tuition fees, historical evidence of what markets will bear, and reactive swings in response to visa changes, global events and other such factors. In reality, the setting of international tuition fees has not been a scientific process.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Perspectives on Tuition fees, Student Loans and Financing of Higher Education in Thailand, by Pornchai Mongkhonvanit, President Siam University, Thailand, and Yhing Sawheny, Assistant to the President, Siam University (Pornchai@siam. edu)  
We generally believe that higher education is a public good which yields public benefit of economic development by advancing the frontier of knowledge, helping to disseminate technology into practical applications, and producing skilled manpower needed in the country. It also yields private benefits to individuals in terms of improved job prospects and salaries, general knowledge, openness to the world and global citizenship amongst other aspects. Government also need to make economic decisions to decide how funding is used to strengthen primary and secondary education, to teach more people to read, as well as decisions regarding the finding of other activities such as irrigation, transportation, and communication. And tuition fees become an instrument which enables the financing of higher education to the benefits of individuals as well as society as a whole. The important question becomes – how much tuition should be charged and what kind of financial mechanisms should be developed to ensure access to all.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Is Higher Education a Luxury item in Africa? by Chris Gordon, Director Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana (cgordon@ ug.edu.gh)
Sub-Saharan Africa has had the lowest tertiary education participation rate of all world regions. The figures from World Bank statistics of Gross Enrollment Ratio in tertiary education for African countries are in single digits, while Malaysia and South Korea are at 36 and 95 respectively. “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” is a quote attributed to Derek Bok. The saying is applicable at the level of the individual student, a university and indeed a nation. Encouraged by their governments to address this lack of participation many African universities embarked on a programme of massification. This period of explosive growth in student numbers between the 1990s and 2000s, saw in some cases, a tenfold increase in student numbers. The total student population of the University of Ghana was 2,252 in 1967; this went to 8,606 in 1997 and by 2007 had shot up to 29,754.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Through the University of South Africa (Unisa) lens on tuition fees, by Phillip Bester, Willem du Plessis, Director Budgeting & Cost Management, Carel van Aardt, University of South Africa – Corresponding author: Willem du Plessis (dpleswh@unisa.ac.za) 
This inspiring vision guides Unisa in pursuit of its objectives and goals. These are consistent with the UN and UNESCO development priorities and global initiatives that seek to improve learning outcomes as an enabler to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The South African National Plan for Higher Education (NPHE 2001) articulates goals for more equitable student access, improved quality of teaching and research, increased student progression and graduation rates, as well as greater responsiveness to social and economic needs. One immediately recognises the congruency with broader goals spanning borders – humanity is generally striving towards the realization of these goals. The South African National Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) green paper on “Post-school education and training” links various developmental strategies with the aim of improving inclusive economic growth and development, ultimately contributing to reducing poverty and ensuring improved livelihoods for all.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
The introduction of tuition fees in Sweden, by Marianne Granfelt, Secretary General, The Association of Swedish Higher Education (SUHF), Sweden (Marianne. Granfelt@suhf.se)  
Tuition fees for students from outside the EU/EEA (European Economic Area) area and Switzerland were introduced in Sweden in 2011 for undergraduate and advanced level but not for the doctoral level. The drop in the number of students due to the introduction of fees has been substantial and is by many seen as a great loss for Sweden, not only for the Internationalization of education but for society as a whole. In this article the process of introduction of fees as well as the consequences for higher education institutions and the actions taken to increase the number of incoming students are described.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Tuition Fees in England, Impacts and Implications, by Sir Howard Newby, Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool, UK (iau@iau-aiu.net) 
In 2011 the coalition government announced that it would be lifting the maximum fee chargeable to Home and EU undergraduate students by English universities from just over £3,000 to £9,000 for those entering Higher Education in September 2012 and beyond (it’s important to remember that different funding regimes operate for the other constituent parts of the UK). The announcement followed the Brown review, and its rhetoric of putting students at the heart of the system was borrowed to justify it. Increasing fees, so the argument went, empowered students by putting them in control of purchasing. Universities, shorn of large chunks of government funds for teaching would have to respond to student needs in order to attract them and for teaching to remain viable. They would also, as a condition of charging an increased fee, have to provide improved information for applicants about student life, courses offered and outcomes for graduates.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Tuition Dependent Institutions Without Subsidies Face Financial Challenges, by William Patrick Leonard, Vice Dean, SolBridge International School of Business, Woosong University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea (wpatleon@solbridge.ac.kr)
While many national economies show signs of recovery, the Great Recession of 2008 continues to challenge some of their tertiary institutions. In the U.S., two respected financial consultancies, Bain and Company5 and Moody’s Investors Services6 have suggested that as many as a third of U.S. tertiary institutions are financially at risk. These are the tuition dependent institutions (TDI’s). In aggregate, their annual operating budgets are primarily sustained by tuition income.
They are non-elite public and small private institutions. One suspects that similar challenges generalize to other nations where tertiary institutions are faced with significantly lower governmental subsidies and or directives. For example, eight major Greek institutions have indicated that the government’s cost-saving mandated reductions in force prevent their operations. In response to increasing student disquiet, Korean tertiary institutions have been directed to lower tuition.
Read more in the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).