World news

Locals-made-good laud the potential of more accessible – and visible – universities

Long-term reform blueprint prescribes teaching, research, student support and infrastructure funding overhauls

New body will have investigative powers and ability to settle complaints when universities behave ‘unreasonably’ – including recommending fee refunds

Risk-rating system, which punishes universities for visa refusals, merely the latest form of ‘structural disadvantage’

Data highlights career benefits of higher education amid pitch for more participation

Australian study finds good prospects for research degree graduates, so long as they look beyond academia

Election result in world’s fourth biggest nation underlines the need for better understanding of its neighbour

‘We have an obligation to try something ground-breaking,’ says oncologist confronting co-Australian of the Year’s brain cancer

Uncertainty gives way to despair as new government pulls the plug on Science City and turns its back on reform process

International enrolments bear no relationship whatsoever to provision gaps in students’ home countries, study finds

As officials ward off questions about debt relief, tax office outlines the cost of changes to ‘grossly unfair’ repayment quirk

Applicants to institutions getting marked down face more processing delays

One in four institutions reaps higher average income from domestic than international students, reported data suggests

Although conditions improved following Covid lockdowns, university staff’s mental health kept deteriorating, longitudinal research finds

‘No less favourable’ provision a ‘major win’ for university staff or a handbrake on their salaries, depending on perspective

Students out of pocket as universities second-guess government policies designed to ‘reduce the net intake’

Agenda overview for THE’s Global Sustainable Development Congress 2024 is announced

Land handover entrenches Southern Cross’ sanctuary role

Government signals willingness to move on fine points of Australian Research Council bill, as opposition insists on veto rights

Incongruous Australian indexation rules to see arts students paying A$17,000 a year, unless accord’s final report produces an overhaul

Senate committee overlooks warnings of unintended consequences from Australian Research Council reform, saying bill is ‘overwhelmingly’ supported

While the world’s most populous country is a bit player in Malaysian international education, diplomatic overtures and an IIT outpost could change things

While accord recommendations that suit some universities might not suit others, overall benefit should be the litmus test, says new IRU chair

While surveys unearth positive views among New Zealand locals and international students, accommodation is a major concern in both camps

Researchers are leaving the profession in alarming numbers, but study suggests gender has surprisingly little to do with it

Universities Australia’s budget pitch a departure from argument that fees ‘do not deter students from undertaking higher education’

Unlike the institutions they work for, Australian researchers have less paperwork – but investment remains in the doldrums

Cash-strapped institutions face task of rebuilding per-student returns as well as student numbers, with earnings slashed by scholarships, offshoring and other factors

Evolving norms, expectations and laws usher both risk and opportunity for universities, according to blind law scholar

Dismissal over workload dispute ‘merely the latest ploy’ in Australian university’s long-running campaign to oust ‘conservative academic’

It might sound ‘wishy-washy’ but joyfulness can succeed where KPIs fail in supporting the institutional mission, new book argues

Kiwis dodge debt overseas, as student loan costs spiral for individuals and government alike

‘I would not accept his evidence as sufficient to establish any scientific proposition at all,’ says ruling

Good for the goose but not the gander, after college’s university-standard performance failed to earn it sub-university branding

British-born leader leaves with immediate effect after less than four years at the helm

As Canberra considers reforms to make university enrolments more inclusive and abundant, key indicators are moving in opposite direction

Resurgence of virus among vulnerable overseas students prompts calls for better awareness campaigns and pharmaceutical subsidies

Partial elimination of tuition fees could prove self-defeating by undermining the private universities that educate more than half of the country’s students

Paperwork pain eases, revenue pain rises as universities confront new year

Autonomy, tertiary sector integration and sustainable research funding are crucial to sector’s future, Brian Schmidt says, as he relinquishes leadership role

Cutting entitlements will be counter-productive unless countries address cultural barriers keeping international graduates from meaningful work

Removal of personal and affiliation details means assessors judge the idea rather than the researcher’s track record

Canberra’s attempt to reduce backlog of ‘permanently temporary’ graduates hamstrung by trade agreement

Former political staffer and representative group head to take the helm at umbrella body

‘Fantasy rhetoric’ that university leads to the ‘good life’ leaves students feeling ‘betrayed’, Australian study finds

Amid yawning teacher shortages and one-sided funding regime, colleges warn that their successful model of localised training faces collapse

Australia’s now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t approach reflects policy patterns in other leading education destinations

People ‘backing off’ from higher education should ‘have another look’, says departing Universities Australia boss

More miscarriages inevitable unless courts become ‘more science-sensitive’, learned academy warns

Education exports and high student loan repayments help offset damage from inflation and interest rates, according to Australian mini-budget

Cost-of-living crisis has not spawned improvements in university food options, Australian analysis finds

Chancellors might only choose vice-chancellors once a decade, but they spend the next few decades agonising about it

Representative groups broadly welcome focus on quality and integrity, but proposed changes to migration points test will be pivotal

‘If the government wants data, here’s the data,’ says dean, as study finds Māori and Pasifika remain under-represented in medical enrolments

Despite record earnings, commencements and visa lodgements, analyst predicts ‘readjustment’

While concessions and newly flagged exemptions provide reassurance over Australia’s proposed defence trade control changes, ‘grey areas’ remain

Academy and fifth estate must team up, Nobel laureate says, as 3.2 billion people prepare to vote in a reality-free zone

All but a handful of universities now tarnished by short-changing scandal, according to academic union

Criticism of Australia’s ‘tax’ on international students escalates amid signs that it may be a done deal

Australia has made strides in developing a commercialisation culture but still has a long way to go, says new STA president