By Michelle Paterson – Acting Editor. In Commentary this week, John Aubrey Douglass and Patrick Lapid contend that the ‘progressive tuition model’, which charges wealthier students more to reduce the cost and debt for poorer students, appears to be working in some US universities and is a viable path for maintaining access for lower-income students. Rankings expert Angel Calderon explains why this year’s Academic Ranking of World Universities brought some surprises, with some institutions experiencing a marked change in standing. Goolam Mohamedbhai expresses the hope that African governments will reconsider their policy of upgrading their polytechnics to universities or, like Mauritius, create institutions to replace the converted polytechnics.
In World Blog, John Richard Shrock laments that the SAT college entrance test in the United States is moving in the wrong direction, becoming more like the Chinese gaokao which encourages teachers to teach to the test and students to memorise rather than understand.
In Features, Jan Petter Myklebust unpacks reports by the Norwegian and Danish authorities giving their recommendations for the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme for the period 2018-20.
And, finally, in a Special Report, Nicola Jenvey reports on the launch of the Higher Education Forum for Africa, Asia and Latin America, or HEFAALA, on 20 August in South Africa, and the inaugural HEFAALA symposium that preceded the launch. More...