For the second time in a week, an Israeli university has announced a major new project with a Chinese institution of higher learning, writes David Shamah for The Times of Israel.
On 5 April the University of Haifa said it would establish a joint laboratory building on the campus of East China Normal University, the largest university in Shanghai. The lab will specialise in research in ecology, big data, biomedicine and neurobiology. The building will be funded entirely by the Chinese government, the University of Haifa said. The deal was similar to one announced a week before by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which said it was establishing a joint centre for entrepreneurship and innovation with Jilin University, the biggest university in China. Read more...

Polytechnics and universities will have more room to admit students based on their talents and interests rather than just grades, under enhancements to current aptitude-based admission schemes, writes Laura Elizabeth Philomin for Today Online. Read more...

The system for funding American flagship public universities is “gradually breaking down”, said Robert J Birgeneau, a former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and the co-chair of a two-year project to examine the role of public research universities and recommend changes to help them stay competitive, writes Mikhail Zinshteyn for The Hechinger Report. Read more...

India's first official ranking of higher education institutions may not fetch top institutes funds from the government but outliers, such as the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, IIT Ropar and the Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, that figure in the top 10 believe it would help them attract global faculty, students, and ultimately funding, writes Prachi Verma for The Economic Times. Read more...

Universities may be forced to reveal their real course cut-offs including the lowest entrance scores they have accepted so students can make better decisions, writes Charis Chang for News.com.au. Read more...

At least 12,000 students from the country’s various tertiary institutions have been forced to drop out of university or defer their studies in the face of the deteriorating economic and political climate, reports Zimbabwe Daily. Read more...

Universities will soon lose their powers to allocate National Student Financial Aid Scheme funds to poor students as the government body tightens its grip on finances, reports BDLive. Read more...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has sparked controversy by suggesting the Muslim headscarf should be banned in universities and that a majority of French people think Islam is incompatible with the values of the republic, writes Angelique Chrisafis for the Guardian. Read more...

A new national report on the quality of higher education in China has been released, suggesting more needs to be done to develop an 'innovative spirit' among Chinese college students, writes Victor Ning for CRIENGLISH. Read more...

The education ministry is considering a major realignment of both public and private universities ahead of an expected drop in the number of students, according to ministry sources. It would be the first time that national public-run and private universities could face amalgamation. In past structural reviews, only those in the same categories were merged, reports The Japan Times. Read more...