Whites-only in the 1950s, the University of Texas at Austin now has a majority of non-white students. As the nation's ethnic mix shifts, Jon Marcus asks whether US university campuses are becoming more multicultural or are still segregated along ethnic lines
Reform of the university admissions process has been on the agenda for years. Many favour post-qualifications applications, but a workable system has proved elusive. Rebecca Attwood sets out the background
Steven Schwartz recommended the adoption of PQA in a 2004 report. It went unheeded, but he still believes it would be a better system for UK universities
PQA is just one of the options that Ucas will examine in its review of admissions processes. All possibilities will be considered, says Mary Curnock Cook, the head of the service
Stuart Anderson, whose love of ships launched early and never foundered, still delights in combining work travel with visits to historic vessels globally
Via study-away sites, local partnerships, portals and fully fledged overseas campuses, ambitious universities in the West are increasingly keen to take root elsewhere. John Morgan asks how the overseas market will develop
What do your shoes say about you? More than you think, says Caroline Knowles. They hint at your class, job, where you live and even how you spend your leisure time
Dale Salwak explains how he removes the obstacles that prevent his students connecting with the greatest writer in the English language, allowing them to fall under the Bard's spell
Too few academics are putting themselves forward for the top jobs. Amanda Goodall argues that we must nurture talent, value achievement and pay more if we want to fill the empty chairs
In philosophy, logic is too often considered the only appropriate analytical instrument. Adding fiction to the toolkit can, Michael Boylan argues, offer new and illuminating ways to contemplate human existence and its dilemmas
Why has resistance to the government's plans for universities failed? Alastair Hudson decries the state's success in painting legitimate protest as riot
Recent marches by schoolchildren against tuition-fee hikes and budget cuts signal the revival of a long and illustrious tradition of pupil protests in Britain, Clive Bloom observes
Blind faith in the magic of numbers played a major role in the financial crash. Education must change to ensure that mathematicians have their feet firmly planted on the ground, Chris Ormell argues
The Golden State's mix of public planning, spin-off innovation and private excellence has made it one of the global academy's powerhouses. But funding cuts threaten the University of California's pre-eminence and the precious balance of an interconnected system. Zoë Corbyn reports
Peter Hill recalls his time as a lighthouse keeper, a profession since snuffed out by technology. He misses the arduous hours, grand meals, avian migrants and tall tales in the coal fire's glow
Freedom of speech is passionately defended in UK education, but when Islamic extremism and even terrorism have emanated from some of our campuses, should institutions step in? Matthew Reisz weighs up the hands-on and hands-off approaches
Aspiring and seasoned US journalists alike are looking to tech-savvy graduate schools to help them survive and thrive in a new multimedia environment. Jon Marcus reports
Liberal arts degrees are appearing in the UK and arousing much interest. Protagonists claim that the wide-ranging education provides more rounded individuals who are better prepared for modern employment. Rebecca Attwood writes
The high tuition fees paid by overseas students are an attractive source of revenue in these straitened times. But will higher education reforms change all that? Matthew Partridge investigates
Academics have long been criticised for being out of touch with the real world. Matthew Reisz finds that many make great efforts to dispel ivory tower attitudes, but others believe such habits will never disappear
As public funding shrinks, fundraising becomes crucial for universities. Adrian Beney examines how UK institutions are approaching the challenge and what they can learn from US methods
What is the source of this money? Will we offend anyone if we accept it? Have any laws been broken? Hannah Fearn surveys the ethical minefield of fundraising
The man who financed Facebook is offering 20 two-year $100,000 fellowships to teenagers with big ideas - as long as they leave university. Jon Marcus reports
A soaring enrolment rate and a driving ambition to compete globally characterise higher education in South Korea. But how is this all-consuming desire affecting society? asks John Morgan
Mill, Smith and Friedman: look away now. Coalition plans to marketise the academy are a corruption of laissez-faire ideology. Martin Cohen lambasts a liberal approach to 'liberalism'
Some think that traditional peer review, the guardian of sound science, is not up to the task of assessing large-scale multidisciplinary research. Paul Jump puts the question to the experts
For the US academy, sport - particularly American football - isn't a matter of life and death: it's much more important than that. David Gewanter discusses the big-money, big-reputation stakes of the 'cult of escapism' - a mano-a-mano University Challenge
Incisive debate on contemporary issues is curtailed by the glacial pace of academic publishing, argues Tim Luckhurst. Adopting new journalistic models would inject vitality into academics' work
The Freedom of Information Act enables public access to scientists' research data, but can scientific knowledge really be extracted in this way? Scientists should engage with the public, but need to find a less confrontational and more meaningful method of doing so, advise Adam Corner and Alice Bell
This should be the age of reason but we are failing to foster the intellectual skills that could liberate student minds. Linda Elder argues that we should embed critical thinking at the heart of the curriculum and outlines steps to emancipate the minds of a new generation
In May 1968 the old order was upturned by marginalised contract lecturers. Today, the proliferation of online courses offers slow-track academics a similar opportunity to seize the scholarly high ground, argues Paula Humfrey
In the academy, the real argument over science and religion is not about God but rather about how social and natural scientists understand people. Martin A. Mills says we must bridge that gap to comprehend humanity
Some academics think the authors of historical fiction peddle myths, exploit their labour and wallow in sentimentality. But could dialogue between the two play a role in promoting public understanding of the past? asks Matthew Reisz
Narrowly vocational higher education stripped of the insights offered by the arts and humanities, particularly literature, does students in all disciplines a lasting disservice, says Roger Lister
Is globalisation becoming a reality in the academy’s top ranks? It’s early days, but there are signs that the barriers are falling as universities look abroad to find the best captains. John Morgan reports
The government wants a return to the past, with more input into the exam process by universities. Rebecca Attwood probes whether the move is welcomed or seen as more ministerial meddling
Delays to a report on the future of Irish higher education have fuelled unease over its proposals. Having seen a draft of the recommendations, Hannah Fearn gets the academy's verdict
The impact agenda came roaring to unruly life for a self-confessed shy bookworm when his work on Plato's 'musical code' drew the attention of the international media. Jay Kennedy tells the tale
Kerala's distinctive higher education system is undergoing reform with some success, but there are problems it shares with the rest of India that will take much effort to overcome, say Philip G. Altbach and Eldho Mathews
The Browne report heralds long-overdue competition and diversity in English higher education but, says Vernon Bogdanor, it also sets a big challenge for the government because its vision will not be realised without more spending on universities
Did necessity or ideology drive thinking behind Browne and the CSR, and will unleashing student/consumer demand improve or imperil the sector? Simon Baker investigates
Modern languages should be a passport to life, so why are so few students queuing up to learn them? In a special report on Britain's linguistic skills gap, Matthew Reisz discovers that, globally speaking, we are missing out
Martha Nussbaum fears our critical culture, inculcated by a liberal arts education, is under attack, with democracy itself coming under threat. Matthew Reisz thinks her case is overstated
Most Facebook users have not, as is often charged, lost their sense of appropriate behaviour; rather, the site has relaxed some social rules, argues Kathleen Richardson
Advancing the frontiers of knowledge is at the core of the academy, but the crossing of established disciplinary boundaries is often resisted. How does a band of pioneers stake its claim to novel territory, counter sceptics, win converts and establish itself? Zoë Corbyn looks at the psychology of science's fight for acceptance
Materialism has had its day. To understand the ideas that drive human activity, including economics, we need a new field that combines the arts and sciences, argues Deirdre N. McCloskey
Times are hard and cuts have to be made, so let's start by putting an end to verbosity and all those mind-bogglingly long assignments, research papers and reports, writes Peter Lennox, succinctly
Women produce fewer papers than men over a lifetime and are still scarce in senior positions, especially in science. Dispelling myths of innate difference between the sexes, Amanda Goodall offers advice on how they can raise their research productivity and status in the academy
Mass higher education has brought social mobility to millions worldwide, but as access expands and academia is stretched to breaking point, standards are in steady decline, writes Philip Altbach
The notion of a 'war' between science and religion is a media-friendly but profoundly inaccurate model for scholars' many-hued and nuanced views of God, faith and doubt. Matthew Reisz reports
Sir Terry Pratchett is one of the world's most successful authors. He talks to John Gilbey about auto-didacticism, the tyranny of higher education and whether writers are born, not made
