By Soumaila T. Diarra. A government report has revealed widespread fraud and bribery among high-level professors at universities in Mali and degrees awarded in exchange for cash.  
The general auditor’s report issued on May 14 alleges financial mismanagement involving billions in public money, including management irregularities at the University of Bamako between 2010 and 2012 that it said cost the public treasury 2.4 billion CFA ($3.66 million) of which nearly one quarter of the losses were due to fraud. More...

By Karen Howlett and Colin Freeze. Canada’s largest school board has opened a Confucius Institute, bringing to Toronto students a controversial global language and cultural outreach effort that is controlled by the Chinese government. 
The TDSB is embracing the institute just as several universities are severing their ties with it because of restrictions China has placed on academic discourse and fears of political censorship. The institutes offer language and culture programs subsidized by China’s government. The academic activities are supervised by the Beijing head of the Chinese Language Council International, a state agency commonly known as Hanban. More...

By RIA Novosti. Russia plans to produce an official international ranking of higher education institutions, including universities in the CIS, BRICS and SCO countries, by June 2015, the Russian Government said Tusday. 
“The Ministry of Education and Science of Russia together with the interested federal executive bodies and organizations ought to organize the production of the international rankings of higher education institutions, including those of the CIS, BRICS and SCO countries, providing measures to ensure international recognition of such ratings. The results should be reported to the government by May 25, 2015,” the government said on its website. More...

By Laura Macdonald. Universities have united to condemn the Government's proposal to cut the number of seats on university councils.
The changes are part of the Education Amendment Bill, introduced in February, but students say the changes could push them out of decision-making.
About 180,000 students fill the halls of New Zealand's eight universities, alongside 20,000 full-time staff. Read more...

By Patrick Blum. Facing government funding cuts and sharp spending increases, some British universities are turning to a new source of money — the bond market. 
English universities and colleges in particular are set to raise their infrastructure spending to 3.86 billion pounds, or $6.5 billion, this academic year, from £2.65 billion in 2012-13, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the public sector paymaster for the sector, said last month. They plan to invest £3.3 billion a year for the next three years to improve their facilities. More...

By Michael Hewlett. For the past 32 years, Wake Forest University and Maya Angelou have been inextricably tied together. 
Angelou, who died Wednesday morning at the age of 86, had served as Reynolds Professor of American studies at Wake Forest since 1982. 
Provost Rogan Kersh said Angelou was woven into the fabric of the university and wherever she went, Angelou carried Wake Forest with her. More...

By Paul Kniest. The changes to higher education regulation and funding announced as part of the 2014-15 federal budget represent the end of Australia’s public higher education system as we have known it since Labor Education Minister John Dawkins introduced the unified national system in 1989. Read more...

By Yegor Stadny. The political situation in Ukraine is far from stable. ‘Terrorists’ in the east still control small areas. The main problem is that recently they managed to block the presidential elections in some cities, so those who wanted to vote were unable to do so. Despite the political instability, reform of higher education is still among governmental priorities. Read more...

By Jason Scorza. Put most simply, the ‘American Dream’ is the belief that everyone has a reasonable chance – although not a guarantee – of achieving success through means under their own control. It is the assurance that personal qualities such as hard work, frugality, honesty and self-discipline can make for a good life, however you (or I) may define thats. Read more...

By Grace Karram. University programmes are not typically designed to ensure student confidence, but confident graduates have an advantage in a reserved culture like Malaysia. For students at Sunway College in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, increased confidence and the ability to navigate the professional world are intentional outcomes of their Victoria University degree course. Read more...