In mid-June, a group of academics published an Alternative White Paper outlining their vision for the future of higher education. Unfortunately, the Alternative White Paper included various misconceptions about alternative providers. More...
The 2016 Student Academic Experience Survey published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) on Thursday, 9th June 2016 reveals that, while 85% of full-time undergraduates at UK institutions are satisfied with their course, just 37% of them perceive they get good value for money. More...
By . Often, I think, I am seen as a bit of a downer on Canada. It goes with the territory: my role in Canadian higher education is i) “the guy who knows what’s going on in other countries and ii) “the guy who pokes the bear”. So frequently I ending up writing blogs saying why isn’t Canada doing X or wouldn’t it be great if we were more like Y, and people get the impression I’m down on the North. More...
By . So, this is my last blog for the academic year. For the next couple of months, I may blog occasionally if something interesting happens (but to be honest it would have to be exceptionally interesting to get me writing); you can expect normal service to resume a week or two before Labour Day. More...
By . About a decade ago, my colleague Kim Steele and I did a comparison of the affordability of public higher education in all ten Canadian provinces and fifty US states. In general, Canadian provinces did not do well; yes, Canada has lower costs for students, but its student aid system is less generous and – this is worth remembering – Americans are wealthier than we are. More...
By . So, it’s that time of year when I bring you the round-up of what’s happened in provincial budgets over the past few months. Usually, when I do this, I look both at student financial aid and transfers to institutions; this time, I’m going to skip the student financial aid stuff because there’s essentially no change. More...
By . Earlier this week Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) decided to hold a “National Day of Action”, its first since 2012. Many may find this a bit puzzling: after all, this is a year in which the federal government increased student grants and doubled the number of summer student jobs. More...
By . At HESA towers, we’ve recently been looking at some data on student costs of living in various countries. This has prompted a number of observations with respect to the ways in which higher education – however global and transnational it may occasionally appear to be – is still deeply rooted in national cultures. More...
By . That’s the conclusion reached by a group of professors from – wait for it – smaller Canadian universities, as published recently in PLOS One. I urge you to read the article, if only to understand how technically rigorous research without an ounce of common sense can make it through the peer-review process. More...
/https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
