Latest news with #universities
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
A reckoning is coming for the higher education sector
What would the founders of our great universities think of the news that no fewer than 637,000 graduates are now claiming Universal Credit? Perhaps they would have agreed with the late Kingsley Amis, who in 1960 greeted the expansion of higher education with the words: 'More will mean worse.' We do not have to endorse such cultural pessimism to accept that the precipitous rise in the quantity of graduates has been accompanied by a dilution in the quality of degrees. The results can now be seen. Students are running up huge debts, expecting their studies to amply reward them. But instead they end up finding themselves on benefits. Britain's welfare system was not designed for a generation which has lost all inhibitions about what it no longer calls 'the dole'. But the bigger concern is the university system itself, now on the brink of bankruptcy. In yesterday's Telegraph James Kirkup argued that the vanishing of the 'graduate premium' in earnings, combined with the loss of many 'graduate jobs' to AI, is reducing the appeal of a degree. Squeezed by demographic decline, universities are now financially dependent on foreign students, who pay higher tuition fees. Driven by voters' anger over migration, however, governments have cut visas for overseas students. Some 40 per cent of universities are now running deficits. Add to this the folly of the likes of Edinburgh University, which is apologising for the views of its Enlightenment luminaries such as Dugald Stewart and David Hume. If the prospectus is mandatory self-flagellation and not-so-genteel poverty, it is time to consider university reform.
National Post
2 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Peter MacKinnon: Something has to give for universities that are fighting for their survival
In a recent article in Halifax CityNews, journalist Rachel Morgan asked an important question: can Nova Scotia universities survive the red line? Budget deficits, tuition controls and caps on international student numbers combine to threaten their stability and perhaps, in some cases, their existence. The issues are not for Nova Scotia alone; they are present in all provinces. Article content Article content Though we sometimes speak of universities in generic terms, there are sharp differences among them. Dalhousie University in Halifax is a medical-doctoral institution well known throughout the Atlantic region and across Canada. Other universities in the province vary in size and stature but have more of a local impact, and some are embedded in communities that are dependent upon them, e.g. Acadia in Wolfville, St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, and Cape Breton University in Sydney. Ten universities are a lot in a province with a population approaching 1.1 million, but they are all established institutions with communities that are intent on their survival and success. Article content Article content The hurdles in their way are substantial. In Nova Scotia, as in other provinces, the percentage of budgets from government grants has been steadily declining but the decline has not been met by offsetting fee increases, and provincial governments continue to control tuition, prescribing levels that are insufficient to make up budget shortfalls. Where, historically, universities have been able to set their own tuition fees — for international students — the federal government has intervened to impose caps on their numbers. While the impact among universities varies depending on the extent of their reliance on students from other countries, it is felt by all. Article content Article content Clearly this situation is not sustainable; as the old saying goes, something has to give. Public support has to increase or universities must be given the latitude to make up through tuition the shortfalls between government grants and what they need to do their work well. Governments must recognize this choice and be guided by it. Article content Article content Universities, too, have choices to make. When the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents meets, do they talk about collaboration, rationalizing programs, collective procurement, outreach to business and working in solidarity to achieve better collective bargaining outcomes? Or are they focused on the latest issue or crisis? (I would bet on the latter). They should ask themselves, too, about why the standing of our universities with the public has declined. Canadians are losing confidence in their political neutrality and in what should be their commitment to non-discrimination and freedom of expression. These are not conditions that lead people to press their governments to support more public funding. Article content But despite their shortcomings, our universities are vitally important in shaping the future of Canada. Their futures depend on broad non-partisan support for their missions and activities and, until that support is recovered, they are unlikely to fare better — in Nova Scotia or elsewhere in Canada. Article content
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
China's tech hub Shenzhen mandates leniency for innovators whose state-funded projects fail
Authorities in China's southern tech hub of Shenzhen have called for leniency towards innovators whose government-funded projects fail or do not pass evaluation. Advertisement The first policy statement of its kind from the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission comes as China aims to cement the city's status as a hi-tech powerhouse and reduce reliance on foreign technology amid a sustained strategic rivalry with the United States. The new rules applied to all universities, hospitals and companies that undertake technical innovation with government financial aid, the commission said in a statement on its website last Monday. It said that if the mistakes did not involve misconduct, there was no abuse of power and the innovators took reasonable actions to correct the errors, then they should not be punished. The statement further listed scenarios where such exemptions could be made, such as goals stalled due to technical difficulties, products developed but rendered unviable due to market changes, or research remaining incomplete because of the need to explore new mechanisms, methods, models or technologies. Advertisement 'These units and individuals should not be held accountable, nor should their performance evaluations be affected. They should not be hindered from applying for government-funded scientific and technological projects again,' the document said. It urged that researchers be encouraged to 'boldly explore uncharted territories and strive to become creators of significant scientific achievements', as well as to set up a long-term mechanism to avoid losses caused by failed innovations.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Up to a third of intake of new Hong Kong medical school to be non-local students
As many as one-third of about 50 students to be admitted initially to Hong Kong's third medical school will be non-local, the city's health minister has said, adding that a proposal on its establishment will be submitted to the chief executive before his coming policy address. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Saturday that the new medical school was expected to be developed without vicious competition in terms of faculty and student sources with the two existing ones. He said the school would mainly recruit second-degree students, including those from outside the city. 'The initial number of students admitted to the new medical school will not be very large. Our preliminary estimate is about 50,' he said on a television programme. Lo said authorities would consider suggestions raised by the three universities interested in opening the school, but the ratio of non-local to local students might be 1-2 or 1-3 in the initial stages. 'In other words, one-third or one-quarter of the students will be non-local,' he said.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
White House seeks fines from other universities after Columbia deal
The White House is seeking fines from several universities it says failed to stop antisemitism on campus, including Harvard University, in exchange for restoring federal funding, a Trump administration official said on Friday. The administration is in talks with several universities, including Cornell, Duke, Northwestern and Brown, the source said, confirming a report in The Wall Street Journal. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration is close to striking deals with Northwestern and Brown and potentially Cornell. A deal with Harvard, the country's oldest and richest university, is a key target for the White House, the official added. A spokesperson for Cornell declined to comment. Other universities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump and his team have undertaken a broad campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at US universities, which the Republican president says are gripped by antisemitic and 'radical left' ideologies. Trump has targeted several universities since returning to office in January over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year. Columbia University said on Wednesday it will pay more than $200 million to the US government in a settlement with the administration to resolve federal probes and have most of its suspended federal funding restored. The Trump administration has welcomed the Columbia deal, with officials believing the university set the standard on how to reach an agreement, the official said. Harvard has taken a different approach, suing the federal government in a bid to get suspended federal grants restored.
