World news

While main parties battle over debt-wipe proposal in Australian election, critic says scale of fees is the real issue

Vice-chancellors say they have ‘no choice’ about downsizing, but unions question the need as 2024 accounts reveal recovery trend

National security U-turn ‘cutting Australia off from knowledge creation frontier’ just as US turns its back on collaboration

New restrictions following pro-Palestinian encampments appear to contravene Australian universities’ commitments on free speech, says legal academic

Three-term system ‘suited the time’, but post-pandemic conditions bring new priorities, says university

As people from non-traditional backgrounds become the majority in Australian universities, a legal academic argues that efforts to accommodate them can help the old guard too

Medical training a bright spot for the sector, in an election campaign mostly focused elsewhere

Australian university council members bear far less onerous ethical and reporting obligations than volunteer mums and dads, analysis finds

Bots’ tendency to display ‘unwarranted confidence’ and fixate on ‘pink elephants’ particularly risky in medical research, according to new paper

Debt forgiveness could reduce graduates’ borrowing capacity, as home ownership becomes defining issue of upcoming election

Thai study adds to growing body of literature supporting pet therapy for students with mental health conditions

Staff blame recent bout of recruitment as USQ prepares to cut more than one in 10 workers

Withholding hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars seen as a way of enabling ‘clawback’ of future losses resulting from ‘unobserved risky behaviour or malpractice’

Bill requires universities to promise not to ‘take positions’ on non-core issues or ban invited speakers because of what they might say

Australian university set to become first foreign institution with base in Middle Eastern country, but its staff think it should focus closer to home

New boss rules out further forced redundancies as cash-strapped university aims to break even next year

Letter demands regulator action over ‘egregious’ governance failures, but ACU says claims disproved by ‘basic Google search’

Renewed push for country to join Horizon Europe, as foreign minister urges universities to ‘diversify’

Key parliamentary ally seeks explanation over apparent discrepancies in reporting of consultancy spend

No word on whether US research partnerships must be registered for possible veto, after American authorities suspend contracts on ideological grounds

‘Hard-fought’ result no reason to ‘lose focus’ in a ‘turbulent and often unpredictable environment’, says Monash v-c

Surveyed professional staff blame constant restructuring for escalating administrative burden and deteriorating administrative efficiency

Call for rethink over how funder’s money is used to underwrite professors’ salaries, as overhaul of key schemes continues

Apparent recovery owes much to bump in government funding, and may prove short-lived as international earnings tumble

‘A poor communicator who ghosts me’: disaffected research students and supervisors have similar grievances about each other, survey reveals

Compulsory assessment tasks that highlight cultural histories of Australia and New Zealand help prepare students for future careers, universities insist

Budget projections that changes in repayment rules will incur no extra expense ‘lack credibility’, expert says

Promise emerged less than 18 hours after government handed down a slender pre-election budget

Cost-of-living help unveiled for students, staff and graduates, but sector remains all but empty-handed

Up to 185 more jobs in the frame, as restructuring of university switches from teaching to operations

Tally of unsubsidised students could reach thousands, representative body warns, after enrolments surpass projections

Institutions taking ‘as long as they like’ over investigations to protect reputations, according to Australian research integrity campaigner

Seven-figure salaries needed to attract top talent, universities argue, but staff apprehend ballooning executive remuneration with ‘disbelief and anger’

Fees rising and scholarships disappearing as visa constraints reduce incentive to keep students’ costs low

Threats to US-funded research and infrastructure could mean ‘profound implications for Australians’, academy warns

Teaching and nursing enrolments surge as students seek ‘safer’ career paths in an uncertain and expensive world

Reforms to boost opportunities for those just starting out could have the opposite effect, observers warn

Students spiked their visa paperwork to bolster their chances next time around, new data suggests

Teqsa’s request for extra clout to tackle ‘systemic’ governance failures deemed too much by some, too little and late by others

Australian east coast campuses emerge from lockdown after wayward storm pulled its punches

Communing with long-term residents is vital to overseas learners’ well-being but can leave them feeling more isolated than ever

Experts concede shortcomings in the oversight of universities but question whether Teqsa is best placed to resolve them

Australian department ‘not aware’ of computer ‘bug’ that applicants blame for torpedoing their PhD dreams

VET needs a boost, researcher argues, amid counter-claims that higher education is on the back foot

Institution is ‘balancing the right to protest with the rights of others to not be adversely affected’, says new vice-chancellor

While hundreds of academics decry education minister’s intervention, supporters say he acted in researchers’ interests

Statement endorsed by 39 Australian institutions described as both being ‘not robust enough’ and a ‘betrayal’ of staff and students

Advocate more judiciously, sector representatives urged, as they demand more money to ‘do our job for the country’

Coalition has departed from usual practice, outlining a comprehensive suite of changes if it regains government

If doors to opportunity close, ‘it can become a potent political issue very quickly’

Conference also hears that proposed streamline of ARC grant schemes will give early career researchers a ‘leg-up’

Universities can win a rational argument but lose an emotional war, conference hears

‘Real issue’ is whether people think universities give value, says new university leader who accepted lower salary

Students take years to recoup the tens of thousands of dollars they would have been paid if training was salaried, New Zealand study finds

City campuses have not delivered institutions an international education bonanza, but Federation hopes its new site will support a new model of cooperative education

Many asylum applicants began their journeys as students before Australia’s visas were overhauled almost a decade ago, new figures suggest

Domestic postgraduate provision looms as an alternative to out-of-favour international education, but it’s a tough market with questionable returns

Never much of a vote-winner, higher education now risks the burden of being branded a vote-loser for parties seen as too soft on the sector

University latest passion project for ex-politician who specialises in ‘institutions that are worth keeping’

‘Endless stress’ confronts Iranian doctoral candidates who worked for a year just to cover the application fee