By Brendan O'Malley. European Union Justice and Home Affairs ministers on Friday agreed on common entrance and residency rules aimed at making the European Union more attractive for students and researchers from third countries. Read more...

Scottish government plans for university reform are a recipe for conflict and could erode the autonomy that has been central to the success of the nation’s elite institutions, according to the departing principal of the University of St Andrews, writes Mure Dickie for the Financial Times. Read more...

The government has been urged to pick one or two public universities to be upgraded to global status. Conference organising chairman of the 2015 meeting of the Chairmen of the Board of Directors (Public Universities), Tun Zaki Tun Azmi, said the aim could be met if one or two were nurtured into becoming the 20 best in the world, reports Bernama. Read more...

The Ministry of Education and Training said the professionally oriented higher education model must be used at universities and colleges to make sure graduates are qualified to get jobs without needing to be retrained, reports VNS. Read more...

Labor has agreed to support two law changes affecting university students that will save the federal budget A$1.1 billion (US$805 million), reports AAP and Matthew Knott for The Sydney Morning Herald. Read more...

It’s not just big business; merger mania has hit universities across Europe. Since 2000, the number of university mergers have increased substantially and almost 100 mergers have taken place, according to a report by the European University Association, writes Aamna Mohdin for Quartz. Read more...

A group of academics has urged the central government not to sign a treaty at an upcoming World Trade Organization meeting that they said would turn higher education into a business, encourage foreign universities to set up shop in India, and drive fees through the roof, reports The Telegraph India. Read more...

The government will make it compulsory for university students to interact in English in order to prepare them to compete in the ASEAN – Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Economic Community, which comes into effect at the start of 2016, reports The Jakarta Post. Read more...

Turkey's higher education board, known locally by its initials YÖK, has called on Russia to not allow tensions between the countries to impact bilateral agreements in the education sector, reports Anadolu Agency. Read more...