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 The Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC) enhances the mutual understanding and cooperation in the North American community by fostering collaboration between institutions of higher education in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The link address is: http://www.conahec.org/

By Ian McNay. Let me own up: I coined the term "modern universities" for the re-designated polytechnics (Letters, 23 August). Before 1992, there were three groups of universities – ancient, old and new. "Modern" seemed to complete the quartet and give a nice symmetry, a counterpoint to "ancient". It also encapsulated my hopes for that group of higher education institutes, not dissimilar to those of Alan Bance, since the former colleges of advanced technology had not followed the strong European tradition of professional technological education and the Robbins report's recommendation on the special institutions for scientific and technological education and research. The cooling of the white heat of technology, the need to rescue teacher education after the James report and the 1972 education white paper, and to diversify to respond to increased demand for access after the 1980 cuts, meant that intent was lost. Read more...

 The Danube Rectors' Conference has served as a forum for the articulation and initiation of a number of joint research projects, such as the "Ecology of the Danube" (natural and life sciences, environmental engineering and technology) and "Blue Danube," a trans-disciplinary project that involved the "harder" sciences as well as historical and cultural disciplines. The Danube Rectors' Conference has grown considerably in recent years, and its agenda has expanded. The network articulated objectives to raise the general level of academic performance; to promote mobility, to reduce drop-out rates; and to lower the cost of tertiary education. Furthermore, it underlined the importance of multilateral cooperation in the region and expressly supported the establishment of the Central European Exchange Program for University Studies. Finally, the Danube Rectors' Conference endorsed an integrated university model based of institutional autonomy and established working groups to address the issues of university legislation, curricula and the evaluation of teaching and research. The link address is: http://www.d-r-c.org

By Chris Williams. With college loan debt hitting us where it hurts, the American dream has become the American farce for Generations Y and Z. The American dream has become the American farce for Generations Y and Z. Student loan interest rates doubled to 6.8% on 1 July until Congressreached an agreement to change them back weeks later. This isn't some small special interest issue; it impacts 40 million Americans. Indebtedness has become a ravaging disease infiltrating our US waters, and there doesn't seem to be a cure to stem the tides of suffering that so many of us are dealing with at present. There are more questions than answers on how to remedy this unpleasant situation. To his credit, President Obama recently conducted a town hall at the University of Buffalo to discuss his new plan to attack student loan debt for numerous citizens drowning in it. Read more...

 Founded in 1985 and formally constituted by Charter in 1987, the Coimbra Group is an association of long-established European multidisciplinary universities of high international standard. The Coimbra Group is committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalisation, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society. It is also the purpose of the Group to influence European educational policy and to develop... The link address is: http://www.coimbra-group.eu/

By Vincenzo Raimo. Take note BIS, says Vincenzo Raimo– successful international strategy is about more than income and student recruitment. We've been waiting a long time to see this government engage with universities' international activities and value what we do. But having been trumpeted by Vince Cable in February 2012 as a vitally important development for UK universities, the contents of the now published strategy, Global Growth and Prosperity, has proved a real disappointment.
Why? Because it's behind the times and ignores some of the forward thinking work already taking place in our universities. Because it focuses too much on the short term monetary benefits of transnational education (TNE) – we've seen too many examples of universities backing out of such commitments when they realised they weren't the solution to funding problems at home. Crucially, though, the strategy also misses the point about the long term benefits to the country, to universities and to individuals of engaging internationally. Read more...

 ASEA UNINET is an association of European and South-East Asian universities which was founded in 1994 in order to encourage and facilitate cooperation between academic institutions, governmental and non-governmental organisations and economic operators. The link address is: http://www.uibk.ac.at/asea-uninet/

By David Smith, Africa correspondent. Applicants accused of lacking enthusiasm and not having a basic grasp of English. The University of Liberia. Number of applicants this year: nearly 25,000. Number gaining admission: zero. The "epic fail" of every single candidate in the admission exam provoked bafflement, consternation and heated debate on Tuesday, with some convinced that flaws in Liberia's education system had been brutally exposed. A government minister likened it to "mass murder". Read more...

 Established in 1913, the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is the oldest inter-university network in the world. Today's ACU combines the expertise and reputation of over ninety years' experience with new and innovative programmes designed to meet the needs of universities in the 21st century. Five hundred members are spread across five continents and they represent a diverse range of institutions. Commonwealth universities are therefore able, through the ACU, to network easily, extensively and fruitfully, sharing problems, solutions and good practice across a variety of higher education environments. The ACU is a voluntary organisation, which is registered in England and Wales as a charity (number 314137) and is controlled by its member institutions through an elected Council. Her Majesty the Queen, the Head of the Commonwealth, is the Association's Patron. The link address is: http://www.acu.ac.uk/

By Anne Marie Graham. Unless the government develops a coherent languages strategy, student mobility is threatened, says Anne Marie Graham. Another year, another fall (5%) in the number of language A-levels taken. The UK curriculum's first choice foreign languages, French and German, have been declining in popularity for more than a decade. And although numbers studying other languages, including Spanish and Arabic, have increased, they're not enough to buck the overall downward trend. The new league table measure for 'traditional' subjects, the English Baccalaureate, led to a dramatic increase this year in students taking a language at GCSE, but the figure still only stands at 44% of GCSE students. How many of these are studying French or German because they want to, or because they've been encouraged to do so to improve their school league table position? And realistically, how many will go on to study languages at A-level? Read more...