Regional

EU Building Mediterranean and Asian Networks

Leaders of the European Union have agreed in principle to the formation of a Union for the Mediterranean to include the 27 EU countries and non-EU Mediterranean coastal states. The proposal is to be officially launched at a special summit in Paris in July. Under the terms of the current agreement, a Mediterranean Erasmus student exchange program will be established as will a scientific community embracing the EU Europe and its southern neighbors.

The move is seen as necessary and desirable, in part because many of the countries are already reforming their education systems in line with reforms being undertaken through the Bologna reforms. In addition, many of the coastal Mediterranean countries are already involved in European initiatives such as TEMPUS and the Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window. Approximately €16 billion (US$24 million) is to be set aside for the new union up to 2013; however, many questions remain unresolved.

In a similar initiative with Asia, the European Commission has selected a consortium of three major higher education organizations – the European University Association, the German Academic Exchange Service and the Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education – to launch a higher education platform for European and Asian academics and policy makers. The EU-Asia Higher Education Platform is being set up to promote cooperation in the field of higher education between Europe and developing countries in Asia as part of the EU’s Asia Link program.

– Euractiv.com
March 14, 2008

English-Language Programs Ever More Plentiful

According to a new book published by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), there are today more English-language programs taught in Europe than ever before. With a current total of 2,400 such programs, the number has tripled in the last five years.

ACA, a Brussels-based higher education think thank, conducted a survey of approximately 2,200 higher education institutions in 27 non-English-speaking European countries, and found that the Netherlands, Finland and other Nordic countries lead with the most English-language programs, mostly in the fields of engineering and business, and at the master’s level. There are fewer English-language programs in southern European countries. The findings were published in the book, English-Taught Programmes in European Higher Education: The Picture in 2007.

– ACA
April 2008

Continent-wide Credit System for Vocational Studies to be Introduced

Twenty years after the European Union (EU) introduced measures to facilitate the mobility of students in higher education via its credit transfer system, learners in manual or practical activities are set to get their own EU-wide system.

EU-wide recognition of national vocational education and training (VET) qualifications came a step closer to realization in April when the European Commission proposed plans to harmonise them into a comprehensive system. The proposed new European Credit system for Vocational Education and Learning (ECVET) is seen as the equivalent of the higher education ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) introduced in 1989. It will look to improve learner mobility across Europe by ensuring that training completed in one member state is recognized in another.

The current framework is very disjointed, consisting of national education systems with minimal interconnectivity. The credit transfer system hopes to promote learner mobility and give them more access to and choice of lifelong learning. At present, the plans are at the Recommendation stage, and the Commission will present them to Parliament and Council for approval. Subsequently, if adopted, member states would implement the initiative on a voluntary basis.

– Euractiv.com
April 11, 2008

Denmark

China University in the Works

The Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation announced in February that it is planning to help open a Danish university in China, as part of its broader China strategy that would see a far greater exchange of Danish and Chinese researchers and elite students, preferably in close interaction with the business sector.

The plans were announced at a press conference in Copenhagen, and are a direct follow-up on Minister Helge Sander’s visit to China last fall. As announced, the plan would focus on ten existing schemes and nine new initiatives, including the establishment of a Danish university in China as a consortium of Danish universities, enterprises and approved technological service institutes. A fact-finding study will be launched into the university this spring. Other initiatives would focus on bringing talented Chinese students and researchers to Denmark through scholarship programs, trainee placements and internships.

Although the university is still very much in the explorative stages, the minister has said that it would be located in Beijing, involve a consortium of Danish universities and offer fee-paying programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It would be open to Chinese and Danish students, offer Danish credentials and employ both Danish and Chinese staff. It would also work in close cooperation with more than 300 Danish companies which currently have businesses established in China.

– Ministry of Science and Technology news release
February 28, 2008

France

Ministry Announces Plans for Elite University Funding

The French government has launched a program through which it hopes to create globally competitive universities. Not unlike a similar initiative in neighboring Germany, funding will be made available to an ‘elite’ group of institutions. Only 10 campuses will qualify for the estimated €5 billion (US$7.5 million) that will come from the sale of 3 percent of France’s electricity company, leaving most to continue scrambling to balance their budgets and maintain crumbling infrastructures.

President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last year the plan to create 10 centers of excellence of higher education and research, and in February Valérie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research, officially launched Operation Campus which, by the end of this year, should have selected the successful sites, expected to include federations of more than one university.

– University World News
April 6, 2008

French University Reforms Hailed as Model for Rest of Europe

The EU research commissioner has urged EU member states to follow the French example of university reform granting more liberties and responsibilities to universities, and to implement the EU executive’s recommendations on modernizing the European higher education system.

“I welcome the ambition of France towards its universities and – through the upcoming EU Presidency – towards those of Europe,” said Janez Potočnik, addressing the colloquium of the French Conference of University Presidents on April 4, 2008.

The French university reform is “an example to Europe as a whole” on how to modernize European universities by giving them more autonomy to manage their teaching, research, innovation and knowledge transfer missions, the commissioner said. However, French plans to implement EU recommendations on higher education reform have attracted the opposition of students, university staff and the French association of researchers. All fear that state disengagement could lead to excessive private-sector influence over higher education curricula and unequal development of universities.

– Euractive.com
April 15, 2008

Germany

New 12-Year School Curriculum Receives Criticism

The shortening of the gymnasium (secondary school) from eight to nine years, and the school curriculum more broadly to 12 years from 13 is being criticized for being too short and creating too much work for students who are required to take in as much information in less time. The shortening of the curriculum by one year means that students have longer days at school and less time for sport, leisure activities and homework and are now turning to private tutors for help.

– AEI Newsletter
March 26, 2008

Tuition Fees Proving Unpopular

German universities in a majority of the nation’s 16 states began charging students moderate tuition fees two years ago and ever since, universities have been facing a series of challenges. According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, some university rectors have been met with protests, lawsuits and ridicule from students since implementing tuition fees, in a country that has historically made higher education free to all citizens.

Cuts in government support, overcrowded classrooms, and buildings in desperate need of repair have forced universities to seek new sources of income. Other European nations have made similar moves to shift more of the costs to students.

In the case of the University of Cologne, the new mandatory fee is €500 (US$750) per semester. However, “the government’s willingness to allow universities to charge tuition has come with strings attached,” according to the article. Each state in Germany stipulates how the tuition can be used; North Rhine-Westphalia, the state where Cologne is located, allows a university to use tuition to pay teachers who teach but not to those who conduct research.

While the tuition money has also gone towards improving the university in other ways, i.e. extending library hours, hiring more tutors and repairing buildings, the rules governing faculty hiring means the university can use the fees to pay professors to teach, but not to conduct research. Meanwhile, 15,000 students are suing their universities to remove the tuition fees altogether.

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
April 4, 2008

Hungary

Tuition Fees Outlawed

In a referendum on the elimination of tuition fees in higher education, the Hungarian voting population decided by a margin of 4:1 to eliminate fees. The March 9 vote was ratified by the Hungarian Parliament eight days later and thereby passed into law. Under prior legislation, universities and colleges would have been able to assess tuition fees from September of this year. Any students that have paid tuition fees in advance will be reimbursed.

– Deutsche Press Agency
March 17, 2008

University Applicant Numbers Continue to Fall

The total number of students applying to universities for academic year 2008-2009 has dropped 12 percent year-on-year to a total of 96,302. This year’s drop in applicants represents a slowing longer-term decline in applicants, according to Education Minister Istvan Hiller. The drop can partly be explained by the fact that 13 percent of school leavers are now opting to study for vocational qualifications instead of at universities.

In 2007-08, applicant numbers fell 21,000 from the previous year, Hiller said. He added that a declining trend in the number of applicants in higher education has been registered since 2004. The number of applicants included 5,200 students applying for master’s programs. The ministry expects 85,400 pupils to take secondary school-leaving exams this year, half of whom will likely apply to higher education.

– The Budapest Times
March 31, 2008

Republic of Ireland

Government Plans to Double Foreign Students in 10 Years

Ireland’s Higher Education Authority (HEA) has announced plans to double the number of full-time foreign university students in Ireland over the next ten years. In order to do so, the HEA believes the Irish education system needs to adopt a more international focus and integrate non-Irish students into activities at universities and colleges.

Currently, 12,000 foreign students are enrolled at Irish institutions of higher education. The top sending country is the United States (2,416 students), followed by Malaysia (1,134 students), Britain, Germany and China. The number of foreign students has increased by 170 percent over the past decade. Overall, there are students from 114 different countries studying in Ireland.

– RTE
April 7, 2008

United Kingdom

24% Rise in Indian Students

According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the number of Indians studying in the United Kingdom rose by 24 percent from 19,205 in 2005-06 to 23,835 the following year.

India remains the U.K.’s number two source country after China, which sent 2 percent fewer students over the same timeframe: from 50,755 to 49,595. Among other non-European Union countries with significant increases are Nigeria, up 16 percent from 9,605 students to 11,135, and Pakistan, up 17 percent to 9,305. The number of US students in the UK rose 8 percent to 15,955, making it the third largest sending country.

The total number of students from non-EU countries rose by 7 percent to 239,210. Among EU countries, the most significant increase is in students from Poland, which rose 56 percent, taking the number to 6,770.

– The Times Higher Education Supplement
March 27, 2008

Government Begins Rollout of ‘A-Level Replacement’

The British Government has begun the process of scrapping existing school-leaving qualifications in England as new Diplomas are introduced over a five-year period.

Applied A-levels are likely to be the first to go, along with thousands of little-used vocational qualifications. Many in the academic community believe that other vocational qualifications such as the BTec and City and Guild will be subsumed by the Diploma, as will the A-level. A new Joint Advisory Committee for Qualifications Approval will decide which qualifications get public funding to be offered in schools and colleges.

Of the 6,500 or so existing qualifications, 65 percent have fewer than 100 students a year, according to the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Those with very low uptakes – such as a certificate for parking attendants – are likely to go.

The move is designed to simplify a complex network of British qualifications with a more comprehensive and coherent set of qualifications, supporting better progression through a set of clear, well-valued qualification choices. This will be three-tiered: Diplomas, GCSEs and A-levels.

The government says it is investing to ensure GCSEs and A-levels continue to be high quality and important for “many” young people. But it says: “Diplomas will in practice duplicate the offer currently provided by Applied A-levels, and will provide a stronger learning experience.” So from 2013 Applied A-levels “will no longer be needed as part of the qualification offer in England.”

– The BBC
March 31, 2008

Students Demand More Accountability

With the introduction of higher caps on university tuition fees, and a push to increase to 50 percent the number of young people enrolling in university programs, undergraduates fear their degrees are becoming worthless leaving them with mounting debt and poor job prospects. These were the main findings of a Government-sponsored report derived from student focus groups.

In addition, students want clearer information regarding what exactly they are paying for when they go to university and want reassurance that their degree will make them employable. Overseas students, in particular, are concerned about career prospects after completing an education abroad. The report indicates that international students would like a “systematically-embedded path into immediate postgraduate careers,” applying for visas made simpler, and more “respectful and empathetic” lecturers.

With an average student debt of US$43,000 at graduation, students are demanding “value for money,” and increasingly view themselves as customers, according to the report. They want good teaching, resources, and more information and guidance on how to handle their finances. The findings from the report will feed into the new National Student Forum (NSF), which is designed to hold the government to account on problems in higher education.

– The Guardian
April 10, 2008

Universities Told to Streamline Marketing or Miss Out

Internationally mobile students have become much more demanding in recent years, and universities interested in attracting them will have to improve their sales pitch or risk losing out to better prepared institutions, conference attendees in the UK were told recently.

Colin Gilligan, visiting professor of marketing at Northumbria University, said: “Universities still have a fundamental problem in international recruitment. They don’t understand the competition or the customer sufficiently well.” He made the comments at a conference, “Rethinking Higher Education: The Practice of Internationalization”, held in London in March by the UK International Unit, Universities UK, research firm i-graduate and UK Trade and Investment.

Faced with a growing array of study options and destinations, universities will have to react to a much more discriminating student ‘consumer,’ who is far more demanding, more skeptical, more inclined to complain, more experimental and with better access to information.

Professor Gilligan argued that UK higher education must better embrace technology to connect with this youth market, and said that brand differentiation was going to be increasingly important. Will Archer, director of research firm i-graduate, said that while marketing used to be about “making the odd noise”, successful strategies now focused on understanding expectations and ensuring that personal referrals from current students and graduates were positive.

Instead of defining students by nationality, Mr Archer suggested five new categories: “Surfers”, “Seekers”, “Gekkos”, “Bonos” and “Kids.”

The Surfers (11%)
They are motivated primarily by “life experience”, which they value more highly than work, and they do not place great importance on earning a high salary.

The Seekers (24%)
Their main motivation is getting a good job. They want to earn money, but are conservative in their aspirations and are strongly influenced by their parents.

The Gekkos (23%)
Named for Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko, they are driven by cash and status, uninterested in “making a difference”, and are more discriminating and judgmental than Seekers.

The Bonos (22%)
Named for the campaigning rock star, they are motivated by the greater good and consider recognition to be more important than financial reward.

The Kids (20%)
They don’t really know why they are at university and exhibit indiscriminate enthusiasm and unfocused ambition.

– The Times Higher Education Supplement
March 20, 2008

Report Suggests Rankings more Influential than Universities would Like to Admit

Newspaper rankings have a big influence on universities, despite institutional statements to the opposite, according to a report published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the government’s funding body for the sector.

The report, counting what is measured or measuring what counts, says that university leaders were often under intense pressure to place well in university rankings at the expense of other objectives, like widening access to students from poor families. This pressure is likely to increase if tuition fees in England rise after 2009. “It is possible that ranking position will affect an institution’s ability to charge the highest fees across all its courses,” said the report by the Open University and Hobsons Research.

The report is critical of all the tables analyzed: national rankings by the Guardian, the Times of London and the Sunday Times, and international rankings by the Times Higher Education magazine and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

– The Guardian
April 8, 2008

(Scotland)

In Search of a Top-20 Super-University

A task force looking into higher education reform in Scotland has been looking into ideas aimed at creating one Scottish university that ranks among the world’s top 20 institutions, and mergers in the rest of the sector.

The committee, comprised of government and university officials, was set up after last year’s budget settlement, which disappointed many in higher education. The ruling Scottish National Party wants higher education to contribute more to the nation’s economy. Scotland’s universities produce 1 percent of the world’s published research from 0.1 percent of the world’s population. The University of Edinburgh is ranked 23rd in Times Higher Education‘s world rankings; the next highest rated is the University of Glasgow, at 83. Aberdeen follows at 137 and Dundee at 171; no other Scottish institutions are in the top 200. Moves to ensure a single top-ranked institution could mean mergers or the redistribution of funding.

The potential reform models drafted by the task force are focused on the redefining the relationship between the government, the Scottish Funding Council and universities.

– The Times Higher Education Supplement
March 27, 2008

International Students Now Comprise 50% of Graduate Enrollments

The number of foreign graduate students in Scotland is now on a par with the number of domestic students. In 2000, there were just 7,395 graduate students from outside the U.K., compared to 13,660 from Scotland. Last year, there were 15,540 overseas graduate students compared to 15,855 local students. Next year, Scottish students may well be in the minority for the first time.

The increase is mainly due to an influx from outside Europe as universities recruit talented students from Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Because such students pay full tuition fees – as much as US$24,000 annually – the financial benefit to universities is significant.

Tony Axon, policy officer for the lecturers’ union UCU Scotland, warned that “countries such as China and India are building huge universities and there is a danger that, as students go to universities in their own countries, the market will suddenly collapse,” in an interview with The Herald.

– The Herald
April 7, 2008