Politics

Senate committee inquiry extended as members scrutinise impacts on vocational colleges

Radical proposal to overhaul admissions to the UK's research-intensive universities would tackle ‘elite formation’, say LSE and Oxford professors

The UK’s austerity-fixated new government is highly unlikely to find significant extra money for universities, says Andrew McRae

Both sides of Australian politics need to stop treating universities as ‘a political pawn’

UK prime minister blames previous government for state of higher education sector, as his government continues to consider options for solving funding crisis

Graduates now keenly aware of loan scheme rules and how to avoid debt blowouts, figures suggest

Financial challenges facing institutions mirror those plaguing Treasury, asserts PhD-bearing science secretary, who jokes he ‘wouldn’t wish a doctorate on my own worst enemy’

Proposed Australian caps show how quickly policy environment can change, says new Manchester v-c, who has just made the switch from Down Under

Former universities minister agrees with King’s principal that ‘now is the moment’ for fee increase

Serving minister and former prime ministerial aspirant to lead capital city university

Regional institutions hope to benefit as they are handed quotas higher than current numbers at expense of rich Group of Eight universities. But will effect of the policy merely put students off Australia altogether?

Universities minister acknowledges ‘financial peril’ faced by UK higher education sector but insists potential remedies will ‘take time’

Universities should reflect upon the intellectual life and sacrifices of South Africa’s student activists as they mark milestones, says Mashupye Maserumule 

Commission needs standalone portfolio for research and innovation or Europe could lose ‘competitive edge’, prize winners warn

Latest figures showing that growth has fallen to lowest level in decades should be a ‘wake-up call’ for government, says Universities Australia

Author of report seeking to shape spending priorities says MPs should spend more time consulting the ‘people who know most about a subject’

Scheme that places researchers at heart of policymaking set to be expanded, but can evidence-based advice really make a difference in heat of politics?

Vice-chancellors can often overestimate the savings from institutional mergers and underestimate their complex challenges, says Malcolm Prowle

Strategic silence of vice-chancellors within our national debate is a mistake when the quest for truth is so central to academia, argues Sir Geoff Mulgan

Academics question why some universities should be pushed to the wall while others swell their intake

But flaws in controversial bill are already creating problems, according to top legal scholar and university leader

Metric used to inform new policy adds to confusion for top-ranked institutions while other vice-chancellors welcome ‘certainty’ provided by their allocations

Newly announced quota ‘like a levy by stealth’, analyst says, as universities evaluate the impact at institutional level

No currently enrolled students will be disadvantaged, bureaucrat insists, despite quarrels over data and assessment that bill ‘is more suited to national security legislation’

With a six-month sunset and short-term contracts off the table, administrators can no longer rely on insecure teachers for certainty

Security expert questions the approach, amid reports of Australia’s first ‘nationality ban’

Canberra yet to clarify future of ‘ministerial direction 107’ despite touting enrolment caps as a replacement

New Labour government believes decade-long budgets will lead to more industry investment in science and fewer precariously employed researchers, but not everyone is so convinced

Universities of all types are embracing the earn-while-you-learn qualifications but government can do more too, says Exeter’s vice-chancellor Lisa Roberts

Speculation over imagined backstabbings and betrayals is rife but the joining of two of Australia’s universities is more of a meeting of minds than clash of clans, insist vice-chancellors Peter Høj and David Lloyd

Vice-chancellor says it is ‘fine’ for international students to make up nearly half of Melbourne’s enrolments

University lobby demands revocation of ‘ministerial direction 107’, after education minister insists student quotas will be a ‘better mechanism’

Security body cautions agents against unpatriotic messaging as Chinese applications receive greater international scrutiny

Short-stay students should be exempted from both quotas and fee hike, says representative body

Student-led downfall of autocratic leader has catalysed national conversation about the place of politics on university campuses typically beset by violence 

City dwellers appreciate international students’ economic contribution but think they add to housing unaffordability

Baroness Smith suggests new UK government will not bail out at-risk institutions but says she wants to secure ‘financial stability’ of sector

Open letter urges Bridget Phillipson to think again as scholars allege culture in which alternative views are supressed

Liberals ‘reserve position’ on international student bill, as Australian government pledges to release ‘indicative’ caps

As they brace for big policy shifts, inflation and flat domestic demand have left Australian universities more vulnerable than before Covid

Conservative Party’s higher education policy still likely to be dominated by focus on supposed low-value courses regardless of who wins leadership election

Fee hike follows similar move in Australia, but from a much lower base

Australian stakeholders applaud indigenous focus but stress need for planning and resourcing

The exascale computer’s cancellation underlines the need for a long-term vision that transcends political whim, say Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield

London Higher warns that 16 per cent drop in student visa applications could represent £1 billion in lost revenue for the sector

Politics professor had faced criticism for his posts during political unrest in the UK

Proposal denigrated as ‘wealth tax’ better than the alternative, architect says, as Australian universities unite to oppose caps

Shock results in July’s general election mean there are many more academics in parliament, but narrow majorities are just one reason why their constituencies are likely to be their main focus

Successive governments have a long history of suppressing freedom of speech, thought and association on campus, says C. Rashaad Shabab

Tories had wanted to extend legislation limiting impact of industrial action to higher education sector

Victory for HBCU graduate could bring significant benefits for sector, but second Trump term seen as more ominous

Universities urged to continue work to tackle free speech concerns after being ‘handed reprieve’ by minister

Canberra should avoid unnecessary damage by waiting to assess the impact of no fewer than nine other policy changes, professor says

In the face of a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, student groups in Bangladesh are at the forefront of calls for reform

Fees for humanities degrees reach dizzying milestone, raising questions over how many will ever be repaid

Organisations with more than 2 million members could prove a powerful force to galvanise black and young voters in coming election campaign

University had already built £31 million home for exascale supercomputer now targeted by spending cuts

Structurally disadvantaged in teaching Australian students, new private colleges face international enrolment veto until they have taught domestic students

University funding across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ‘consistently unstable’ despite policy divergence since devolution, report highlights

Future financial health of UK institutions reliant on increasing student numbers after Labour rebuffs funding requests