By Ronald Roach. In a move to strengthen its influence on higher education reform in the U.S., Washington think tank The American Enterprise Institute announced Thursday the launch of the Center on Higher Education Reform (CHER). The center, which is led by AEI resident scholar Andrew P. Kelly, is expected to “conduct independent, data-driven research and analysis designed to inform policymaking and shape the higher education reform conversation,” according to AEI.
“AEI’s new Center on Higher Education Reform will lead the conversation about how we can make higher education work for all Americans, and to prepare American students to flourish in the decades to come,” AEI president Arthur Brooks said in a statement.
With concerns about the state of U.S. higher education growing nationally, AEI seeks to have CHER become a resource for key decision makers to help them address challenges of rapid increases in tuition, lackluster completion rates, swelling student debt and other issues that raise questions about higher education’s sustainability. Read more...

By James Karuhanga. MPs have endorsed a bill that seeks to have some 10 universities in the country merged to form one institution of higher learning. The Senate is now expected to give its approval on the institution set to be called the University of Rwanda in the next few days. 
Presenting a pertinent report prior to the debate, MP Agnès Mukazibera, Chairperson of the standing Committee on Education, Technology, Culture and Youth, told Parliament that, the law will ease the implementation of the new project. The University of Rwanda, she said, would have legal personality, administrative, teaching, research and financial autonomy and will be run in accordance with the law governing the organisation and functioning of higher education. Read more...

By Wang Wen. The high school graduates who completed the university entrance exams 10 days ago, are now faced with solving another question - which university majors offer the best job prospects? According to MyCOS HR Digital Information Co Ltd, a human resources consulting company in Beijing whose name is short for My China Occupational Skills, this year's majors with the highest job prospects and earning potential are geological engineering, naval architecture and ocean engineering, petroleum engineering, mining engineering and auditing. Those with the lowest include animation, law, biotechnology, mathematics and applied mathematics, physical education, bioengineering and English. Read more...

By Wang Wen. The high school graduates who completed the university entrance exams 10 days ago, are now faced with solving another question - which university majors offer the best job prospects? According to MyCOS HR Digital Information Co Ltd, a human resources consulting company in Beijing whose name is short for My China Occupational Skills, this year's majors with the highest job prospects and earning potential are geological engineering, naval architecture and ocean engineering, petroleum engineering, mining engineering and auditing. Those with the lowest include animation, law, biotechnology, mathematics and applied mathematics, physical education, bioengineering and English. Read more...

By Hal Foster. Within three years Kazakhstan’s universities will have the authority to decide what academic programs and courses they’ll offer, speakers at a recent educational leaders conference said. This autonomy will help the universities respond better to changing student, employer and society demands for skills, according to speakers at the Second Annual Eurasian Higher Education Leaders Forum at Nazarbayev University. But autonomy will not be restricted to academic-program and course selection. Universities will also have the freedom to choose their vice presidents and provosts, to allocate funds the way they want and to own their land, which will help them raise funds. Read more...

By Susan Swarbrick. UNIVERSITY officials are understood to be checking their files amid confusion over the Scottish academic credentials of newly elected Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. Reformist-backed cleric Mr Rouhani, who secured more than 50% of the vote, had originally stated his qualifications came from Glasgow University, before correcting this to Glasgow Caledonian University in recent weeks. Read more...

U.S. lawmakers and educators should strengthen their focus on humanities and social sciences for the advancement of U.S. elementary, secondary and higher education, global competitiveness and employable skills, the national Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences said Wednesday. The commission, co-chaired by Duke University President Richard Brodhead, presented their report to a group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hil. The group includeed U.S. Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill, who represents North Carolina’s 4th District, according to the commission.
The commission was created in 2010 as part of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an independent policy research center that studies emerging problems, encourages public engagement and mentors a new generation of scholars, according to its website. The humanities commission’s 53 members include former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court David Souter, as well as musician Yo-Yo Ma and film director George Lucas. Read more...