Formation Continue du Supérieur

By David F. Carr. To apply to the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), you have to do it online, and the first step is signing up for MSOE Bridge, the school's own social network. MSOE is one of a handful of learning institutions that has decided engaging with students through social media requires more than just a Facebook page and a Twitter account. These universities are creating their own social networks centered on the student experience, with many of them at least building toward covering the span from prospective student to accepted student, enrolled student and alumnus. Read more...

By Richard PÉREZ-PEÑA. With affirmative action under attack and economic mobility feared to be stagnating, top colleges profess a growing commitment to recruiting poor students. But a comparison of low-income enrollment shows wide disparities among the most competitive private colleges. A student at Vassar, for example, is three times as likely to receive a need-based Pell Grant as one at Washington University in St. Louis. “It’s a question of how serious you are about it,” said Catharine Bond Hill, the president of Vassar. She said of colleges with multibillion-dollar endowments and numerous tax exemptions that recruit few poor students, “Shame on you.” Read more...

By Katie Hyslop. Critics say government's framework for better quality control misses the academic boat.British Columbia has a vast post-secondary landscape that includes more than 400 institutions, from public universities and colleges to private trades and language schools, serving half a million students. The system established to ensure each school provides a good quality education is almost as broad. Government post-secondary accreditation is dealt with through a mishmash of different legislation, policy and rules, with four different accreditation bodies responsible for different kinds of schools. Read more...

By Ronald Roach. In the effort to create high-impact international education programs, colleges and universities should develop strategic plans that derive support from their administrations and involve administrators, faculty members, staff, and students throughout the institution.  This was one of the key points speakers from the American Council on Education (ACE) emphasized Thursday morning to more than 50 historically Black college and university (HBCU) administrators and faculty members during the Institute on Internationalization at HBCUs. The institute is a training forum aimed at helping HBCUs develop their international program capabilities.  “We have a very important job to do, and those of who are represented in this room today are at the cutting edge,” Patti McGill Peterson, the ACE presidential advisor for global initiatives, told institute participants. Read more...

By Davide Savenije. Higher education faces an onslaught of disruptive forces right now—and no one should be suprised to hear that news. Burgeoning technologies such as MOOCs and mobile devices are disrupting institutional structures from the classroom and across entire campuses. As tech transforms these learning environments, universities must decide whether to resist the change or get out in front of it. To choose the latter option, however, we need to envision what universities of the future will look like—if they exist at all. Read more...

By Joyce Lau. The British government introduced its new International Education Strategy on Monday, with the stated goal of attracting an additional 90,000 university students from overseas by 2018. According to a report released Monday, the education exports industry — which includes everything from tuition paid by international students to the overseas branches of British schools — adds £17.5 billion, or $26.5 billion, to the national economy. Read more...

By David Felsen. Brazilians Want More Investment In Public Services
The street protests did have the effect of raising awareness about Brazil’s unfinished social and economic agenda at home. In response to the government’s rising spending on megaprojects associated with next year’s World Cup of soccer and the Olympic Games of 2016, Brazil’s growing middle class has been calling for more responsive government, better service delivery and more investment in infrastructure. The challenge posed by these protests also creates new opportunities to bring about change to address these issues. One of the most important conversations being had by Brazilians is one that surrounds access to education. At the primary and secondary school levels, educational quality remains low by global standards. Too few Brazilians entering school attain the necessary skills to be able to earn a reasonable living or to pursue post-secondary education. Brazil ranked second from the bottom in the Global Index of Cognitive Skills and Educational Attainment, a recent 2012 global study of 39 countries plus Hong Kong, carried out by the The Economist Intelligence Unit. Read more...

By Jenna Johnson. The millions of college students and parents who will borrow money from the federal government for the coming school year can plan on much lower interest rates than originally offered, as the U.S. House overwhelmingly voted 392 to 31 on Wednesday to approve a Senate plan that would allow interest rates to move with the financial markets. The plan now goes to President Obama, who has already voiced support. House Republican leaders have deemed this a long-term solution, while many Democrats have said this plan will probably need tweaking in future years. Read more...

By Jack Grove. Can the government push through an overhaul of the sector in tough times? Next month Antonio Cabrales will leave his homeland with a heavy heart. Unlike others departing recession-hit Spain, the professor of economics at Carlos III University of Madrid is not emigrating for purely economic reasons.  Although a 20 per cent real terms pay cut recently imposed on Spain’s academics may have hastened Cabrales’ departure, he says that his main reason for moving to University College London, where he takes up a new post in September, is Spain’s stagnant university system. Read more...

By Jessica Lee. Attention marketers: demand is high on mobile devices for higher education info, and online programs from traditional universities are highly sought after, according to new Google research that was revealed during the first Hangout on Air for Google's education team.  The demand for education info in Google's search engine shot up 4 percent, year over year (YOY). Brand-related terms that have the school's name within the query were a key player in the growth. Read more...