University places to be cut by 15,000

The Government announced last night that university student numbers would be slashed by 15,000 this autumn.

Academics warned last night the move would "dash the aspirations and ambitions of many well-qualified applicants". The Government is also cutting funding for teaching in universities this year by £830m – 18 per cent.

The cuts were detailed in a letter to higher-education spending watchdogs from the Business Secretary Vince Cable and Universities minister David Willetts yesterday.

The Government is withdrawing 10,000 extra places allocated last year to cope with an unprecedented rise in applications. And the Higher Education Funding Council for England has been told to control student numbers by removing 5,000 extra places used as a safety net to aid universities that over-recruit.

"The reduction in the total number of student places available in 2012-13 is likely to dash the aspirations and ambitions of many well-qualified applicants," Pam Tatlow, of million+, a university think tank, said.

NEWS BY:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/university-places-to-be-cut-by-15000-6294627.html

Gov. Snyder: University state aid might be linked to meeting tuition, graduation goals

GRAND RAPIDS – Gov. Rick Snyder said he's glad President Obama is focusing on controlling spiraling college tuition and hinted that public universities could soon have state aid increases tied to meeting goals.

Snyder also said he wants to see more collaboration between universities and employers to help students find jobs after earning their diplomas.

Obama, speaking at the University of Michigan on Friday, announced a $1 billion version of his Race to the Top program, this time aimed at higher education.

The federal government could help universities if they can find ways to bring down costs and make it easier for students to complete their education. The plan calls for states to maintain “adequate” funding levels to be eligible for the competitive grants.

Snyder, speaking at a Michigan Press Association conference in Grand Rapids, said he liked that Obama was looking at college affordability.

“I just look forward to a good dialogue with the universities on how we can partner together to make sure we can work to keep tuition low and at the same time get more graduates,” Snyder said, addressing an audience of journalists, students and lawmakers.

Snyder last week said he is considering linking increases in K-12 funding to districts meeting measurable goals and finding innovative ways to collaborate and save money.

On Friday, he said he might approach university funding the same way. The 15 state universities last year faced 15 percent cuts in state aid, more if they raised tuition by more than 7 percent. He has planned a state budget message on Feb. 9.

“That will be part of the budget message,” Snyder said. “I would like to see that as something we should seriously be looking at. It's not just about giving dollars but how do you actually look at the issues of more graduates and better tuition restraint.

NEWS BY:http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/01/gov_snyder_university_state_ai.html

UK tuition fees are third highest in developed world, says OECD

The UK has the third highest university tuition fees in the developed world, according to analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The annual Education At A Glance study (pdf)– conducted before fees almost treble next year to a maximum of £9,000 – shows the UK is the most expensive after the United States and Korea.

The analysis compared the 34 countries of the OECD, plus Brazil, the Russian Federation and Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

On average, students in the UK paid just under $5,000 (£3,158) a year in 2008. In countries including Austria, Belgium and France, teenagers paid less than half this amount. In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, tuition is free.

Andreas teenagers, head of the OECD's educational statistics and analysis division, said the US higher education system had priced many out of the opportunity to study at university. But he said the UK was unlikely to do the same because students have access to loans.

"The cost of higher education has risen very dramatically [in the US]," he said. "It is very difficult for people to afford it because access to financing is much less well developed than in the UK."

The analysis, published in the OECD's annual Education at a Glance report, also shows Britain does worse at keeping young people in education than most other developed countries.

In the UK, 74% of 15- to 19-year-olds were in education in 2009, compared with an average of 82% across the 42 countries studied. Only Chile, Israel, Mexico and Turkey fared worse.

This is despite the UK's spending on education rising at a faster rate than in many other countries. Between 2000 and 2008, funding for primary and secondary education increased by 56% in the UK – the eighth highest increase of 30 nations. Spending on higher education grew by 30%, the sixth highest increase.

Overall, spending on education in the UK was two percentage points below the OECD average of 5.9% of GDP. However, expenditure has shifted from public to private sources.

Adults without "baseline qualifications" – the equivalent of five good GCSEs – have borne the brunt of the economic crisis, the report shows. The employment rate for these adults dropped from 65.6% to 56.9% – a fall four times greater than the average.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/sep/13/uk-young-people-education-oecd

One-sixth of UK degree students study abroad

The days when international students flooded into the UK to study at its world-renowned universities may not be over, but the dynamics are rapidly changing, writes John Morgan for Times Higher Education.

According to statistics published last week, the number of people studying overseas for a complete British higher education qualification rose by 23% last year and now equates to one-sixth of all students taking UK awards. Such courses are typically cheaper than those delivered in the UK and allow students to stay closer to home while avoiding the UK's visa regime.

According to the figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 503,795 students at British institutions “studied wholly overseas” in 2010-11.
Full report on the Times Higher Education site

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NEWS BY:http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120120165502512

25 English universities publish revised fee and scholarship levels

On 1 December  released details of around 25 English universities who have changed their scholarships and/or fees policies for 2012 entry. Most of these universities have revised their scholarships programmes  to allow them to have average fees of £7,500 or less, including fee discounts.

How has this come about?

UK and EU student numbers are still largely controlled by the UK Government. In most cases this allows universities to bid for extra places in what is called the ‘Margin’ – 20,000 extra places are available for universities with average fees of £7,500 or less. This does not mean though that fees have been cut, it just means that more money may be available in scholarships to UK/EU students.

What does it mean for applicants?

This causes additional confusion for some UCAS applicants for 2012 as all those who applied on or before 7 December 2011 have had to be informed of the fact by UCAS, whether they applied to these universities or not. UCAS allows students to change their choices to or from these universities as a result of the revised fees and scholarships.

The advice from the Complete University Guide is to get sound advice before changing your choices and to not make a change unless you are clear of the facts. In most cases the changes are not significant and may not apply to you because of family income or academic achievement. REMEMBER – applicants do not need to respond to this UCAS message if they are happy with their initial choices.

NEWS BY:http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/news/25-english-universities-publish-revised-fee-and-scholarship-levels/

UK university bids to open New York campus

Warwick University is bidding to become the first UK university to set up a campus in the United States.

It has entered a global competition to open a science campus in New York - competing against leading universities from the US, Europe and Asia.

New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said that creating the science campus would be a "game-changer" for the city's economy.

New York wants a research base to strengthen its technology industries.

Warwick is up against 17 other bids to open a science and engineering research campus - which would help New York compete with US research powerhouses in California and Boston.
Online industries

In the wake of the financial crisis, there were concerns in New York that the city's economy was over-reliant on banking and finance and the science campus is intended to help diversify into hi-tech digital industries.

NEWS BY:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13042040

City University London pays tribute to Professor Sir Roger Jowell

The founder Director of the Centre for Comparative Social Surveys at City University London from 2003, Roger Jowell was a leader in his field. He made an exceptional contribution to social sciences in the UK and across the world. His firm belief in the need for methodological rigour has helped ensure there is a field within public opinion research that is scientifically driven.

Apart from being a leading social statistician and expert on electoral behaviour, Roger will be remembered at City for being a down to earth, witty, fun-loving colleague and a great friend. He is also remembered for being an exceptional mentor and inspiration to aspiring social researchers.

Roger Mark Jowell was born in Cape Town on March 26, 1942. After studying politics at the University of Cape Town, Roger moved to London, commenced his career in a market research company and served as a Labour member of Camden Council.

In 1969 Roger co-founded Social & Community Planning Research (SCPR) with Gerald Hoinville, now known as the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and Britain's largest independent research institute. Roger led NatCen from 1969 until 2001, when its work revolutionised social research in Britain.

In 1983 Roger founded NatCen's annual British Social Attitudes Surveys time series, the first study regularly to measure British attitudes and values. Continually striving to improve the research methodology, he edited the first 19 reports of findings.

NEWS BY:http://www.city.ac.uk/news/2012/jan/city-university-london-pays-tribute-to-sir-roger-jowell

Don't teach maths and science in English

English may be the language of science, but students learn better and contribute more when taught in their local tongue, says Giovanni Tapang.

What language should be used to teach science and mathematics? It's a question that often provokes disagreement among educators in charge of implementing the standard curriculum of many non-English speaking countries.

For some, it's a practical matter of meeting current employment demands with flexible education policies and teaching practices. But others feel teaching needs a clear national objective for educational development.

I agree with the latter view — and consider that science and maths have to be understood in the local tongue if a country wants to transform the subjects into real economic benefits.

English for commerce, not education

The point is often made that English is the lingua franca of both commerce and science. In our globalised age, fluency in English is seen to enhance competitiveness, and is certainly essential for those who come from developing countries, where most industries are owned or run by foreign (usually English-speaking) entities.

NEWS BY:http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/education/opinions/don-t-teach-maths-and-science-in-english-1.html

Matching Up States, Countries Offers Fresh Perspective

International assessment expert Gary W. Phillips of the American Institutes for Research believes most states will eventually have to participate in tests like the high school-level Program for International Student Assessment and the 4th- and 8th-grade-level Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in order to compete for global businesses. He likened it to the evolution of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often known as "the nation's report card," which started primarily as a research tool and now is used as a pacesetter in state accountability report cards. "When NAEP first started, each state was living in its own little Lake Woebegone world, not knowing how it stacked up to other states," he says.

"Now the same is true internationally. Around the world a lot of these countries are eating our lunch. They are focusing on education in a way that we aren't," Phillips says. "We have to know how we stack up. That's why these studies are important; they allow us to benchmark what we do and know with what they know and do."

Andreas Schleicher, the head of education indicators and analysis programs for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, administrator of the PISA, said projects to compare students internationally can help America catch up to the global norm: Countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Canada, along with most other nations with federal forms of government, already compare their states or provinces to international testing benchmarks.

NEWS BY:http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/12/16states.h31.html?tkn=OVQFOaJ0CIDQqgu4v1drQeTOY0jE6OaC6cC9&cmp=clp-edweek&intc=EW-QC12-EWH

UC prepares for new academic year

The University of Canterbury is preparing to welcome students from around the world for the start of the 2012 academic year on 20 February.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr says nearly 14,000 students have applied to enrol to study at UC, nearly 2000 more students than at the same time last year.

“More than 3000 domestic students and 1200 international students have applied to enrol for the first time at UC, showing their confidence in the quality and availability of a world-class learning environment at UC.

“While applications from international students are about 90 per cent of the same time last year and first year domestic students are 95 per cent of the same time last year, total applications to enrol are 15 per cent up on the same time last year.

“While not all those who apply to enrol will ultimately be offered a place and accept that offer, it is a sign of confidence in the University and Christchurch that not only are we open for business but the messages of resilience, quality and opportunity have been heard by thousands of students,” says Dr Carr.

“More than 1100 first year domestic undergraduate students will benefit from the admission scholarships which offer up to $3000 for academic achievement in NCEA or the equivalent. 




NEWS BY:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1201/S00023/uc-prepares-for-new-academic-year.htm

U.K. University Braces For 'Climategate 2'

The University of East Anglia, the center of the 2009 "Climategate" scandal that started with the theft of thousands of e-mails sent between prominent global-warming scientists, reported Tuesday that 5,000 more e-mails have been released into the public domain.

The U.K.-based university said the latest batch of e-mails posted on the Internet were not the result of a new security breach, but appeared to have been held back from the original hack. The latest release appeared timed to disrupt the United Nations climate talks scheduled for next week in Durban, South Africa, the university said in a statement.

"This appears to be a carefully timed attempt to reignite controversy over the science behind climate change," the university said in a statement. The college did not know whether all the e-mails were genuine, but found a sampling to be from the original theft.


NEWS BY:http://www.crn.com/news/security/232200139/u-k-university-braces-for-climategate-2.htm;jsessionid=TP5tMNMH7FTHyyUWg-j6MA**.ecappj02

Britain's computer science courses failing to give workers digital skills

Britain is facing a shortage of workers with programming skills, fuelled by poor-quality training courses in universities and colleges, which has left firms in fields ranging from advertising to Formula 1 struggling to recruit.

Leading companies interviewed for a new Guardian series say they require staff at a senior level to be computer literate, combining digital skills with the ability to lead a team. But they face delays in hiring the right staff, or have to give new employees extensive training because many computer science courses are nothing more than "sausage factories".

Ian Wright, the chief engineer for vehicle dynamics with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team, said: "There's definitely a shortage of the right people. What we've found is that somebody spot on in terms of the maths can't do the software; if they're spot on in terms of the software, they can't do the maths.

"It's a question of time – how long it takes to find people. That can mean months down the road. This is a fast-moving business. Every two weeks in the racing season you're out there, everyone seeing how well you do."

The government is poised to overhaul the teaching of computer science in schools, and Michael Gove, the education secretary, is due to outline the coalition's approach to digital skills on Wednesday.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/09/computer-science-courses-digital-skills

Mother killed in South African university stampede

A woman has been crushed to death in a stampede for places at a South African university, a stark symptom of how the country is struggling to meet demand for education among the poor.

Thousands of young South Africans and their parents had camped out for 24 hours at the University of Johannesburg to seek its precious remaining slots.

Most were from poor families who learned they were eligible to apply only after receiving the results of their secondary school exams last week.

A melee broke out at about 7.30am. Ihron Rensburg, the university's vice-chancellor, said: "When we opened the gates this morning, we had this unfortunate, this very sad situation, where there was simply an unbearable crush on the front entrance, or front gate."

A mother who had accompanied her son to the campus was killed, he said. "The situation was particularly tragic as the young man was inside the registration tent and had no idea that this had happened."

Three other people were critically injured and nearly 20 others hurt.

Witnesses told how the gate broke and people tried to clamber over the fence. Desmond Mlangu, a prospective student, said he witnessed a "traumatising" scene, with women screaming and people continuing to push.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/10/mother-killed-south-african-university-stampede

UK to Host Equine Showcase and Breeders' Short Course

The University of Kentucky (UK) Equine Initiative will host a UK Equine Showcase on Jan. 20 and the 3rd Annual Kentucky Breeders' Short Course on Jan. 21 at the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

The UK Equine Showcase is a program highlighting the university's latest equine research focused on the young horse. The program will run from 1 to 5 p.m. with a reception following.

The 3rd Annual Kentucky Breeders' Short Course is an in-depth equine reproductive program from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 21, with lunch provided.

Both programs are open to veterinarians, owners, and managers of all horse breeds or anyone with an interest in learning more about equine reproduction and topics concerning the young horse. Continuing Education (CE) credit for veterinarians and veterinary technicians is pending approval by the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners.

"The UK Equine Showcase is a great opportunity for those in the industry to learn about the latest equine research that is ongoing at the University of Kentucky," said Ed Squires, PhD, Dipl. ACT (hon.), director of the UK Equine Initiative and executive director of the Gluck Equine Research Foundation. "The annual Kentucky Breeders' Short Course will focus on equine reproductive efficiency. UK is fortunate to have many experts in equine science who can serve as speakers."

NEWS BY:http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=19291

Public Funding For UK Universities Falls To All-Time Low

Taxpayer funding for English universities is slated to drop to a mere 15 percent, the lowest it's been in 100 years, Graeme Paton with the The Telegraph reports.

To make up for the lost public funding, students will see a major tuition hike.

Starting in September, British universities will be allowed to charge students up to £9000 per year, or around $11,489.

The tuition hike was approved by Parliament in December 2010.

The drop in government funding is just the latest step that critics say is slowly transforming a public university system into a private one.

NEWS BY:http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-09/europe/30606405_1_tuition-hike-universities-higher-education-funding

New breed of university will make UK 'best place in world to do science'

The UK government wants to encourage the formation of a new class of university that will focus on science, technology and postgraduate training. Science minister David Willetts said on Wednesday that there would be no extra public funding for the new institutions but that they would help to build the UK's research base through private and international investment.

In a speech at the Policy Exchange thinktank, Willetts said the government's ambition was to make the UK the "best place in the world to do science". Globalisation was still at its earliest stages when it came to higher education, said Willetts, and so it was a good time to attract international investment to the UK.

"There's a lot of talk about British universities setting up campuses abroad. But then you think there is international resource here and perhaps some [overseas universities] might want to make a partnership with a British university or a British business and set up some kind of operation here," he said.

An existing British university might build a new campus or set up a new international partnership, or a foreign university might want to set up a research institute in the UK. A big city might offer a location for the new institution, for example, in the way New York has done in its recent competition inviting proposals for a new graduate school on the site of a disused hospital on Roosevelt Island.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jan/04/new-breed-university-uk-science

Why 2012 will be a crucial year for Australia

2012 will be a critical time in our development as a nation with huge uncertainties in many areas both in Australia and globally.

Over more than ten years we have lived through a remarkable mining boom, giving us a huge opportunity to enhance national wealth, but not forcing hard decisions of the kind which led to the great reforms of the Hawke-Keating years.

These had bipartisan support from an opposition also committed to major economic and social reform. Sadly there is no sense of such common purpose in Canberra today despite so many uncertainties in the world, including big changes with the rise of China, India and Indonesia, let alone many other uncertainties in the environment in which we must function as a nation.
Short term view no long term strategy

The boom allowed us to weather the Asian economic crisis of 1997 and to withstand the potentially dire consequences of the Global Financial Crisis. We are now, very properly, trying to get our national accounts back in order after heavy expenditure to avoid a profound recession in 2008-2010 – a crisis which is still causing huge problems in Europe, the US and elsewhere.

When we ask ourselves where we need to go as a nation over the next ten to 20 years, our national political leaders on either side of politics seem either to be short of ideas, or too preoccupied with the short-term, with opinion polls, focus groups or immediate issues of political advantage. We badly need appropriate leadership from both sides of the political arena if, as a nation, we are to make the necessary moves to secure our long-term future in a fast changing world.

NEWS BY:http://theconversation.edu.au/why-2012-will-be-a-crucial-year-for-australia-4797

UK’s most expensive streets are in London’s Kensington and Chelsea

Seven streets in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea have the most expensive real estate in the UK, new research published today (Thursday 29 December) reveals.

Around the corner from Kensington Palace, soon to be the home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Campden Hill Square in the heart of fashionable Holland Park is Britain's most expensive residential street ¬with an average price of £4,863,000, according to research from Lloyds TSB.

Such is the pull of living in Kensington and Chelsea that seven streets in the Royal Borough are in the list of the ten most expensive in the country. These include Drayton Gardens with an average price of £4,428,000, Dawson Place at £3,891,000, Duchess of Bedfords Walk at £3,862,000 and Cadogan Square at £3,678,000.

Parkside, the most expensive street in last year's survey, is the second most expensive this year with an average price of £4,826,000. Parkside is one of two streets in Merton in South West London amongst the ten priciest. The other is Cedar Park Gardens at £3,596,000.

Outside London the most expensive streets are mainly in the Home Counties. Properties on Leys Road in Leatherhead have an average price of £3,108,000, the highest outside the capital.

Other expensive streets outside Greater London include Moles Hill in Leatherhead at £2,608,000, Nuns Walk in Virginia Water at £2,574,000 and Phillippines Shaw at £2,352,000 and Wildernesse Avenue at £2,293,000, both in Sevenoaks.

Brundenell Avenue in Sandbanks in Dorset has an average house price of £2,024,000 and is the most expensive street outside London and the South East. Sandbanks is well known for commanding premium property prices, with Chaddesley Glen at £1,443,000, Crichel Mount Road at £1,415,000, Elms Avenue at £1,366,000 and Bingham Avenue at £1,310,000.


NEWS BY:http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-most-expensive-streets-201112295919.html