By Lenore Taylor. Responsible investment adviser says it is not backing away from its verdict on the dumped resource companies, despite criticism. More...
'As an American, it took me four months to catch on to British sarcasm'
By Katie Allen. One main difference is sarcasm, which I found funny at first because I wouldn’t catch on. I’d have to ask “are you being sarcastic, or not?” and it took about four months before I was able to be cheeky in my comebacks. More...
University fee deregulation 'unfair to regional students', inquiry told
By Gabrielle Chan. Ballarat Grammar headmaster expresses concern that current students are applying to universities with no idea of the cost. More...
Lad culture thrives in our neoliberal universities
By Alison Phipps. Laddism is at home in the callous environment of market-driven higher education, argues, Alison Phipps, who offers advice to universities on how to root it out. More...
UK science: look at the state we're in
By . Briefings published today by the Campaign for Science and Engineering highlight science policy issues that should be debated vigorously before next year’s election. More...
A poor pupil at Oxbridge: is it less likely than Pope Bono?
By Patrick McGhee. The odds on disadvantaged children getting into elite universities are shocking – offers should now reflect a student’s background. More...
Students’ en suite rooms and cinemas: how luxury halls cost universities dear
By Anna Fazackerley. Applicants these days want high-spec pads, but upgrading halls is tough when investors only want to lend to elite institutions. More...
The price of a well-educated workforce
By Martin Durrell. In the debates on university tuition fees, raised again by Peter Scott (Let’s fight the idea that high tuition fees are inevitable, 7 October), one relevant point seems to be continually ignored or glossed over. Comparison is often made with fees in the US, and very high fees are quoted as if they were the norm there. However, these figures always relate to the well-known private universities, especially the Ivy League schools, but it would seem that a more reasonable comparison for England is with the fees charged by public universities for in-state students. These are all lower than those currently levied by any English universities, in some cases considerably so. The most expensive, such as Berkeley and UCLA charge around $12,870 [£8,000], but at Chapel Hill (North Carolina) fees are $8,340 and at the University of Florida $6,630. These are major research universities, but most states also have schools with good undergraduate and MA programmes with fees at or below $5,000 per annum. More...
Home and away: the British teenagers who have won scholarships at America’s top universities
By Rhik Samadder. A new programme is offering British teenagers from low-income families the opportunity to study at the best, most exclusive universities in America, including Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Rhik Samadder talks to five of the 61 gifted students embarking on a great adventure this autumn. More...
International students in the UK: who are they really?
By Natalie Gil. The UK has many world-class universities, so it’s unsurprising that international students flock to our shores in their thousands. More...