By Vince Tan. Inequities in access/selection and quality continue to hold back higher education.
It is that time of year again, when students know if they will be getting a place in the public university of their choice. For most, local tertiary education is the only avenue for higher education. This is provided for under Article 13(2)(c) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which states “…higher education shall be made equally accessible to all…”. Read more...

By Rick Noack. While affordable tuition for undocumented immigrants is a remote prospect in some parts of the world, about 60 German universities are employing a radical strategy.
They are offering refugees the chance to attend courses as guest students, without charging tuition fees. Read more...

By Alastair Merrill. Your leader and article (20 August) claim the University of St Andrews is urging its past graduates to lobby the Scottish Parliament in opposition to the Higher Education Governance Bill.
This is not the case. The appeal to our alumni came from the Business Committee of the General Council, which is a body separate from the university, representing its 40,000 graduates around the world. Read more...

By Genna Ash. Along with rising tuition fees and the inclusion of international students in net migration targets, the 2014 removal of the cap on student numbers became one of the hottest topics for discussion regarding the UK’s higher education system.
Last year, the UK’s student recruitment cap was raised by 30,000, and, starting from this year, universities have been granted the power to recruit as many students as they like. Read more...

It would be utterly unfair for bright students to be deprived of access to education because of their financial status and lousy policies introduced by the university and the State, says Vince Tan.
It is that time of year when students get to know whether they will be getting a place in public universities of their choice. Read more...

By Tara García Mathewson. Before China rose to claim the title, Iran was once the top sender of international students to U.S. universities. In 1979, more than 51,000 Iranian students studied here, according to the Institute for International Education. More recently, during the 2013-14 school year, that number was not even 10,200. Only two students from the U.S. were studying in Iran during the 2012-13 school year. Read more...

By Dian Schaffhauser. An Australian university with an international online student body expects to begin accepting digital badging in 2016 that could reduce the amount of time required for people to obtain their master's degrees in IT. The announcement, which involves Deakin University, actually came from its wholly-owned subsidiary, DeakinDigital. The latter offers an alternative to higher education by assessing professionals and granting them credentials based on what they know. Read more...

MANY of us in academe have had varying exposure to quality assurance activities in our respective institutions. UNESCO defines quality assurance as “the systematic review of educational programmes to ensure that acceptable standards of education, scholarship and infrastructure are being maintained.” Read more...

By Joo-Cheong Tham. Recent Fairfax Media coverage has highlighted the risk of exploitation faced by some international student workers. Such a problem clearly needs to be addressed – what should be done? As a start, three matters should be recognised. Read more...

IT WAS Budget night 2014 and Professor Bruce Chapman, the man credited with inventing HECS, went to the lock-up fully expecting it to be a “bit of a bore”.
“When we heard the announcement about the planned policy reforms, I don’t know what the sound of what one hand clapping is, but I do know what the sound of three jaws dropping was,” Prof Chapman recalled. Read more...