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The Vatican has stripped one of Latin America's top universities of the right to call itself Catholic or Pontifical.
It says the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru has damaged the interests of the church.
The Vatican has been locked in a decades-long struggle with the institution, which it accuses of drifting from its Catholic origins.
The university in the Peruvian capital Lima has long been identified with liberal, progressive thinking.
It was founded in 1917 and formally established as a Catholic institution by the Vatican in 1942.
However, the university has changed its statutes numerous times over the past few decades, angering the Catholic establishment in Rome.
One aspect of the dispute is that the Vatican wants the university to give the conservative archbishop of Lima a seat on its governing board.
The university refused him a post, despite a Peruvian court having ruled in 2010 that he had the right to one.
Peru's current and former presidents are both graduates of the university.
Gustavo Gutierrez, the priest considered the founder of the Liberation Theology movement, also taught there for years.

By Seema Singh. The university ranking system is getting bigger every year. More institutions are added, more heart burns are caused, more browbeating happens, more student lives are touched, and so on. But the question is: Is it getting better?
The year-on-year rankings have created a race, maybe some sort of an anxiety syndrome, where institutions strive to climb up the charts as several of them spring up from different corners. Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) from Shanghai that has been published since 2003 has emerged as the most cited ranking. Last year SIR World Report 2011, which ranked 3042 research institutions from 104 countries, created some flutter. From India, CSIR ranks 73 and IISc ranks 364 in the SIR list.
Most of these rankings look at research output and select their own variables. As a consequence, the rankings vary. In the latest issue of Current Science, two Belgrade University academics publish another ranking system using a so-called I-distance method which tries to integrate both quantitative and qualitative parameters. What’s interesting is that the authors, Zoran Radojicic and Veljko Jeremic, use the SIR World Report data of 2011 and show a ranking that has disrupted positions of the rich and famous universities. For example, Harvard, Stanford and Imperial College London which rank 4th, 19th and 36th in the SIR World Report, move up to ranks 1, 7 and 18 in the I-distance ranking. I-distance method has been proposed many times in the past. Jeremic says he has extensively published it in world’s leading journals. This time though, he says, he performed the I-distance and evaluated elusively higher education institutions so as to compare results with official SIR rankings and to point out potential inconsistencies with the ARWU ranking.
ARWU method has in particular two variables ‘Alumni’ and ‘Award’ which measure the number of Nobel prizes and Fields medals won by a university’s alumni, or faculty members who worked at an institution at the time of winning the prizes (‘Award’). This is more “glorious past oriented approach”, than SIR’s “current performance evaluation” approach, he argues.
Even though these rankings publicize the achievements of universities in specific ranges of activities, they have clear weaknesses. At a deeper level they foster a culture of spotting success stories which others want to emulate. Many even call it the homogenization race. But I’d argue that these rankings are missing a key aspect: since they do not rank disciplines, they are probably not helping students in selecting the best institutions. What if a university is great in neuroscience but weak in computer science, ranks high in metallurgy but low in mathematics? These ranks shed no light on such aspects.
In his paper, Jeremic draws a comparison between Chinese and Indian higher education institutions. From India, 111 institutions appear in the SIR 2011 list, of which 85 (77%) are in higher education. From China, 285 institutions make the list, and of which 240 (84%) are in higher education. These statistics, says Jeremic, indicate that the Chinese higher education system is nearly three times the size of the Indian system. In total, Indian scientific output is smaller than the Chinese output. (See the table.)
Incidentally, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) tops theIndiarank list in both the SIR and I-distance method. But more importantly, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) which is placed 14th in SIR is ranked second by I-distance.
Given these inconsistencies, the European Commission has devised yet another system – U-Multirank method that is a multi-dimensional, (unlike research based existing systems) user-driven ranking tool that uses yet another set of variables: research, education, knowledge exchange, regional engagement and international orientation. U-Multirank is slated for roll out in EU in 2013.
This has particularly emerged from the growing concern that the current ranking system brings distortion in research priorities and local, or regionally relevant, research gets unnoticed. At the recent Euro Science Open Forum (July 11-15) in Dublin, Ireland, Ellen Hazelkorn, head of the Higher Education Policy Research Unit at Dublin Institute of Technology said these rankings have created a “knowledge hierarchy” in which certain types of knowledge are considered more important than others. She implied that disciplines like life, physical and medical sciences get more weightage over arts, humanities and social sciences.
Many university ranking systems, including India’s NAAC, are flawed as they also give emphasis to input indicators and not just output/outcome indicators, says Gangan Prathap, director of NISCAIR and former vice-chancellor of CochinUniversity. He frequently publishes on this subject and has earlier analysed SIR 2011 data in Current Science in a new X-ranking.
“I’m not convinced that the I-distance is fault-free. It emphasizes the quality indicators over the quantity indicators. I think to evaluate performance, you need both,” he says. He however agrees that it’d be a good idea to do a discipline-wise ranking.
But the director of India’s top-ranking institution, IISc, Prof P Balaram is critical of these rankings. He believes Indian institutions slip owing to their small size.
Prof Balaram is right, says Prathap, as the current ranking systems are based on a composite value multiplying quality and quantity indicators and so favour large universities. Typically, a world-class university in North America or Europe is five times the size of IISc and they have budgets which are 20-100 times IISc’s, he says.
All these arguments aside, I have yet another issue with the ranking system. Why rank, when the world is moving to rating. Why not rate the institutions?
Ranking of universities is a very important issue, but selection of variables is the issue than can hardly get a consensus of all interested parties, says Jeremic. “I completely agree that some form of “rated” universities approach could be an interesting alternative to the quantitative ranking approach.”

Increasing the number of vocational training courses taught in English could attract more foreign students to Danish shores – along with their cash.
Three cabinet members are proposing that Denmark increase do more to attract foreign students and so carve a greater share of the international education market.
The ministers – science, innovation and higher education minister Morten Østergaard (Radikale), children and education minister Christine Antorini (Socialdemokraterne) and trade and investment minister Pia Olsen Dyhr (Socialistisk Folkeparti) – outlined their vision in an opinion piece in Kristeligt Dagblad yesterday.
”The value of the international education market is $2.2 trillion a year,” they wrote. “That is almost ten times Denmark’s gross domestic product and in the coming years the global education market will grow at an explosive tempo.”
Denmark’s vocational training programs at university colleges were identified as the sector most likely to offer growth, though it would require increasing the number programmes offered in English.
“Countries such as New Zealand and Australia earn billions exporting education to Asia. They have an advantage because of their language, so we need to make an extra effort to teach in English,” Dyhr said, according to the Berlingske Nyhedsbureau news agency.
“English is becoming the dominant language for university education but our university colleges are lagging behind. International students lift the quality of schools so I think they will find a solution. The Danish students will also have strengthened career prospects by being educated in English.”
Østergaard stressed, however, that they were not proposing that all programmes be taught in English, but rather creating parallel programmes in English that Danish students could participate in.
University College Zealand is already capitalising on exporting education, particularly to students from Vietnam.
“We don’t sell degree programmes, but rather courses for teachers and nurses,”  Ulla Koch, the rector of University College Zealand, said, adding that over 100 Vietnamese students qualify and return home every year.
This week the government announced its plans to grant foreign students green cards after they have completed three-year university educations, allowing allow them to stay an additional three years to find work.

By Ray Clancy. International students studying in Australia are now better protected under the government’s Tuition Protection Service (TPS), according to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Chris Evans.
He said that the TPS would reform the sector by providing increased protection and ensuring international students continue to view Australia as a great place to study.
‘We want to ensure Australia remains a first class destination for international students to gain a quality education and a positive student experience,’ he said.
‘International education is a major industry for Australia, generating around $15.7 billion in 2011 and estimated to support around 125,000 jobs. The government’s new protection service is good news for education providers and good news for students,’ he added.
The TPS is a single mechanism to place students with alternative providers in the case of an education service closure, or, as a last resort, to provide refunds of unexpended course fees.
‘The enhanced TPS will strengthen what is already the world’s most rigorous protection scheme. It will deliver a timely service, more choice and control for students, one set of fees for providers and will ensure greater accountability for government,’ explained Evans.
The new director of the TPS is Vipan Mahajan who has a long career in the Australian Public Service, most recently in senior management in international education in the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.
The TPS is the final chapter in the government’s response to the Baird Review. The TPS Advisory Board will be appointed to develop recommendations on the risk levy to be paid by registered providers in 2013.

Di Valeria Pini. La laurea in medicina è internazionale. Un corso interamente in lingua in alcuni atenei italiani. I test di ammissione si terranno il 5 settembre, iscrizioni fino al 22 agosto. Un modo per preparare professionisti per un mondo sempre più globalizzato, ma anche per attrarre studenti e docenti dall'estero.
SEMBRA Harvard, ma è Bari. In aula c'è lezione di Anatomia e sembra di stare negli Stati Uniti. In tempo di globalizzazione anche in Italia si moltiplicano i corsi di laurea di Medicina in inglese. L’obiettivo è formare professionisti che siano competitivi anche al di fuori dei confini nazionali e attrarre negli atenei italiani i migliori studenti stranieri.
Gli ultimi nati sono quelli dell'Università di Bari, della Seconda Università di Napoli e a Roma "Tor Vergata", preceduti da poco dall’università La Sapienza di Roma. Anche Pavia, una delle facoltà di medicina più antiche d’Italia, offre un corso di laurea in inglese, mentre a Milano ce ne sono due: quello dell’università Statale e l’Istituto Humanitas e quello dell’ateneo privato Vita-Salute San-Raffaele. I test di ingresso in lingua inglese si svolgeranno il 5 settembre e la data di scadenza per l’iscrizione per gli atenei pubblici è fino al 22 agosto.
Al S. Raffaele, ateneo privato, le selezioni si sono già svolte per i candidati di nazionalità italiana, mentre il 28 agosto si terranno quelle per gli studenti stranieri. In queste facoltà si punta all’esperienza sul campo. Gli allievi sono seguiti da tutor e le lezioni si tengono tutte rigorosamente in lingua inglese. Parte dei docenti provengono da università europee e nordamericane.
Il corso dell’università Statale di Milano, nato nel 2010, accoglie 60 studenti. Dieci posti sono riservati a persone provenienti da paesi fuori dalla Ue. "Gli stranieri sono il 50%: vengono da Europa, Israele, Canada, Cina e Taiwan - spiega Gianluca Vago, coordinatore dei corsi - il titolo rilasciato ha validità nella Ue, salvo singoli accordi di riconoscimento". I costi non superano i 3.000-4.000 euro.
Decisamente più élitario il corso dell’ateneo San Raffaele di Milano: per il primo anno 2012-2013 gli studenti pagheranno 18.500 euro. Nato due anni fa, ammette 72 studenti: 36 della Ue e 36 extracomunitari. Il prossimo test di ammissione si terrà il 28 agosto. Alle prove di selezione per l’anno accademico in corso avevano partecipato quasi 500 persone.
"Pavia ha una secolare tradizione di ospitalità di studenti stranieri", spiega invece Antonio dal Canton, preside della facoltà di Medicina di Pavia, che ammette 310 studenti l’anno, fra i quali 100 nel corso in inglese. "Puntiamo a un’internazionalizzazione dei corsi. Fra l’altro siamo stati coinvolti, unici in Italia, nel progetto Usa Global Health Opportunity, che punta a costruire una rete internazionale di università di eccellenza in cui omologare la formazione del medico. Inoltre offriamo ai nostri studenti la possibilità di sottoporsi ai test che si affrontano per l’esame di Stato nelle università americane".
Anche La Sapienza di Roma si adegua (40 posti, 10 riservati agli studenti extra Ue). L’anno scorso al test d’ingresso si sono presentati quasi 400 studenti. "L’obiettivo è dare una possibilità in più ai ragazzi italiani, perché l’inglese è la lingua della ricerca - dice Eugenio Gaudio, preside della facoltà di Farmacia e Medicina -
ma anche attrarre studenti e docenti stranieri per internazionalizzare l’università".

By Dan Harrison. University leader Fred Hilmer has declared Australian universities are on a precipice, underfunded and smothered by regulation, and heading for decline without urgent and dramatic policy change.
Addressing the National Press Club yesterday, Professor Hilmer, the vice-chancellor of the University of NSW, said universities should be free to set their own fees for Australian bachelor degrees. Currently, universities are free to set their prices for international students and for Australian students in postgraduate courses, but fee levels for local students in undergraduate courses are set by the Commonwealth.
Professor Hilmer - the chairman of the Group of Eight consortium of top research universities which includes the ANU - also flagged a more assertive approach to lobbying by the university sector, which he suggested had been too acquiescent in the face of bad policy.
''I think we've got to play in the public policy field a lot more aggressively than we have been,'' he said.
''We're getting close to a time when we've got to do pretty much what the mining industry did. Just say no, take out ads, and be absolutely vocal.''
''I don't think we use the strength of our reputations sufficiently, and I think we're going to have to, because we've got to get this environment changed.''
Professor Hilmer delivered a withering critique of the Gillard government's higher education policies, which he described as ''a mix of rose-coloured aspirations, oppressive regulation and Scrooge-like funding.''
He said about 20 of Australia's universities ranked in the global top 400, yet were treated ''as if they were fly-by-night ventures rather than respected colleagues of the best universities worldwide,'' forced to submit to a ''dysfunctional, smothering array of regulation.''
He said it had taken four months for the Gillard government's universities regulator to approve a new course UNSW wished to offer.
Previously, he said, such approvals took one week.
He said while Australian institutions ranked highly in international standings, these were based on past performance. ''If we look forward, the picture for Australian universities is not nearly as bright,'' he said. ''I think we are sitting on a precipice.''
He said allowing universities to set their own fees for bachelor degrees for Australian students would allow universities to lower staff-student ratios at little or no cost to the Commonwealth budget.
He said if UNSW was allowed to charge half of the students in courses such as law, business, engineering and medicine just 25 per cent more, this would raise $30 million a year which would allow the uni to employ 250 new staff. These degrees carried ''high private benefit'' to the students who completed them, and the HECS system would ameliorate the effects of higher fees on poorer students, he said.
A spokesman for the Tertiary Education Minister, Chris Evans, said the principles which guided the work of its universities regulator had been designed in close consultation with universities and with their strong support.

Selon l’Institut nationale de la statistique et des études économiques, seulement 17% des ouvriers ont eu accès à la formation professionnelle en 2010, contre 35% pour les cadres supérieurs.
Pour avoir le plus de chances d’accéder à la formation professionnelle, il faut être un cadre, avoir un bac+4 ou plus et travailler dans une entreprise de plus de 500 salariés. C’est ce qu’indique un rapport de l’Insee sur la formation professionnelle en 2010.
35% des cadres et 33% des professions intermédiaires ont en effet suivi une formation continue sur cette période, contre 23% des employés et 17% des ouvriers.
Les plus qualifiés ont davantage accès à la formation
Ce taux d’accès augmente avec le niveau de diplôme. Ainsi 10% des professionnels ayant suivi une formation en 2010 n’avait aucun diplôme, alors que ceux disposant d'un bac+4 et plus étaient 34%. Des inégalités, déjà flagrantes, qui ne comprennent pas les écarts de durée et le type de formation suivie.
Alors que la formation professionnelle était sensée offrir une "seconde chance" aux salariés les moins qualifiés, les aidant ainsi à s’adapter aux changements dans l’entreprise, ce sont les plus qualifiés, et déjà adaptés par leur diplôme, qui en profitent le plus.
Trop peu d’investissement public dans la formation
L’observatoire des inégalités dénonce d’ailleurs les faibles opportunités de progression de carrière dans l’univers professionnel français, renforcées par les barrières à l’entrée du monde de l’encadrement. Sans un diplôme d’une école prestigieuse, les chances d’évolution dans le monde du travail sont déjà très faibles. Or les employeurs ne cherchent pas à organiser la promotion sociale.
L’observatoire des inégalités dénonce donc de la "faiblesse de l’investissement public en France" pour la formation professionnelle des moins qualifiés.
Voir aussi What is wrong with global inequality in higher education et Les inégalités d’accès à la formation professionnelle.