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Study reveals benefits, drawbacks of Turing mobility scheme

  The Turing Scheme – created to replace the opportunities for overseas placements offered by the Erasmus+ scheme after the United Kingdom left the European Union – made it possible for more disadvantaged students to take time out to study abroad, according to a new study. The research, carried out by academics from the University of Oxford and University College London, found that the shorter month-long placements offered under Turing were more practical for students from a widening participation (WP) background compared with the 12-month opportunities offered by Erasmus+. However, these benefits were undermined by the timing of funding applications and approvals, with timescales out of sync with the academic year and the possibility of securing time off from work, cheap flights and accommodation. This prevented many students from participating in the programme. The findings of the research were unveiled by Rachel Brooks, a professor of higher education the Department of Education...
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Concerns Emerge Over Proposed Policy and Its Effect on Campus Independence in Ontario

  Ontario’s proposed Bill 33 threatens the academic freedom of the province’s colleges and publicly funded universities, says the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), student groups and education policy specialists – some of whom see in the innocuously titled  Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025  echoes of US President Donald J Trump’s attacks on higher education. The omnibus bill, brought in by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party government, strengthens oversight of the Children’s Aid Society and expands the powers of local school boards. But for the first time in Canadian history, it gives a provincial government the power to set what the bill refers to as “the  criteria and process ” that the province’s post-secondary institutions use to determine entrance into a programme. The bill also gives the government the power to set fees that students are required to pay, which gets around a November 2019 Ontario Divisional  Court decision ...
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Concerns Rise Over Policy Shift and Its Impact on Campus Expression in Ontario

  Ontario’s proposed Bill 33 threatens the academic freedom of the province’s colleges and publicly funded universities, says the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), student groups and education policy specialists – some of whom see in the innocuously titled  Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025  echoes of US President Donald J Trump’s attacks on higher education. The omnibus bill, brought in by Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party government, strengthens oversight of the Children’s Aid Society and expands the powers of local school boards. But for the first time in Canadian history, it gives a provincial government the power to set what the bill refers to as “the  criteria and process ” that the province’s post-secondary institutions use to determine entrance into a programme. The bill also gives the government the power to set fees that students are required to pay, which gets around a November 2019 Ontario Divisional  Court decision ...
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Mobility Rules Shift Leaves Learners from Nearly 20 Nations in Limbo

  United States President Donald Trump’s proclamation of a complete and partial  travel ban  preventing citizens from 19 countries across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America from entering the US, came into effect on 9 June. The complete travel ban will put approximately 19,000 international students at risk of losing access to US universities. Iran is most affected, with 12,430 students studying in the US, followed by Myanmar (3,222), Haiti (883), Afghanistan (702), according to data from the Open Doors 2024. The latter report indicated that 1,433 African students will be impacted, with Sudan worst affected (398 students), followed by Libya (365), Equatorial Guinea (234), Congo (180), Somalia (117), Eritrea (73) and Chad (66). Additionally, 256 students from Yemen will be impacted. The partial restriction will also impact approximately 5,000 students, with Venezuela’s students (3,904) on the top, followed by 824 African students from Sierra Leone (385), Togo (...
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When Academic Institutions Reflect on Their Role Beyond the Campus

  “We educate our students to be responsible citizens and responsible community members … That is one of the most important ways that higher education institutions do impact their local communities,” Dr Audrey Falk, programme director of community engagement at Merrimack College, a US private Catholic institution founded in 1947, told a webinar organised by the University Social Responsibility Network on 4 June. The webinar, attended by almost 100 academics from across the world, listened to four panellists from the US, South Africa and Australia on the various ways impact assessments are factored into higher education institutions’ community engagement activities. Falk said the definition of impact depends on the theory of change adopted by an institution and the change that it seeks to make in the community. However, she argued: “If we want to have a longer-term impact, we really have to have sustained partnerships.” Sustained partnerships with the community are what the Universi...
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More Students Turning to Non-Public Tertiary Options Than Ever Before

  Enrolment in private higher education institutions in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reached a record high this academic year and is expected to increase next year. This success has been driven by the Emirates’ reputation for safety, flexible visa regulations, governmental support and forward-looking academic programmes. For the 2024 to 2025 academic year, 42,026 students enrolled at 41 private higher education institutions in Dubai, of which 37 are international campuses. The number of international students increased by 29% on the previous year, while Emirati student enrolment grew by a record 22%, according to Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority[/url] (KHDA). Private higher education is strong in Dubai, whereas there are only a handful of public universities, which include branch campuses of Abu Dhabi’s Zayed University and Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences. The Dubai government last year announced the creation of Duba...
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