The federal Education and Training Minister has urged students to research where they choose to study if they plan to go to university, as the government released new data on Wednesday showing university student completion rates have dipped slightly. Read more...

The Inter-University Council for East Africa is working to introduce a tool for calculating unit costs to help harmonise higher education fees, as part of its contribution to promoting equal opportunities for all higher education students in the region, writes James Karuhanga for The New Times. Read more...

Birmingham City University is to launch a Centre for Brexit Studies to foster understanding of the national impact of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, writes Alexander Ma for the Independent. Read more...

The Ministry of Higher Education has stressed the importance of appointing Afghan teachers in the private sector-run universities and other higher education institutions and asked these institutions to avoid extending visas to foreign teachers, writes Mohammad Halim Karimi for Pajhwok Afghan News. Read more...

Academics have welcomed an agreement between the UAE Space Agency and eight universities to develop manpower for the country’s space industry, writes Melanie Swan for The National. Read more...

Iraqi special forces raised the Iraqi flag above the buildings at the Mosul University complex on 13 January as they continued the battle for control of the city against Islamic State militants, reports Fox News. Read more...

Five higher education associations recently issued a joint statement calling on President Tsai Ing-wen to address a perceived “drought” in the nation’s talent pool in the same way she handles matters of national security, saying Taiwan is being “sidelined” by the international community in the field of higher education, writes Sean Lin for Taipei Times. Read more...

Lawmakers in two states recently introduced legislation that would eliminate tenure for public college and university professors. The bills, along with the recent gutting of tenure in Wisconsin and other events, have some worrying about a trend, writes Colleen Flaherty for Inside Higher Ed. Read more...

In an ambitious blueprint, Chinese officials have announced intentions to set up 16 top universities by 2030, spreading across several provincial regions outside Beijing and Shanghai, where a number of famous universities are already situated, reports China.org.cn. Read more...

The Ministry of Education and Training has set stricter requirements for doctorates, hoping that changes in the new regulations will shift the quality of PhDs to the regional level, writes Thanh Mai for VietNamNet Bridge. Read more...