Politics

If the point of missions is to win taxpayers’ support for an increased science budget, accountability will be vital, says Harry Farmer

Constitutional Council decision could strike a blow against expansion plan for international students and grandes écoles’ fees policy

Experts sceptical of free-college methods, but welcome party-wide commitment for 2020 poll

The REF is a prime example of the sort of elaborate, burdensome process that potentially adds comparatively little value

Cho Kuk and his wife, both professors, are accused of giving their children unfair advantage in a deeply competitive education system

Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser appears to have big plans for the research community, but his ‘scientist-as-hero’ vision may misunderstand the nature of modern scholarship

Revelations that a Chinese university suspended an academic for ‘moral misconduct’ provoked weeks of online controversy

Queen’s Speech raises question of whether Dominic Cummings would seek to reshape entire research funding system

Time, money, planning and monitoring are key to improving standards, say Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Samuel Kwaku Ofosu 

Hepi poll finds students show little preference for £7,500 fee above £9,250 status quo, casting doubt on electoral benefit of plan

Green Paper under consideration to explore nature and scope of ‘mission’ approach, while funding increases under discussion could range to the ‘eye-popping’

‘Under these circumstances, high world rankings are just not going to happen,’ professor warns

Trump administration defied court order to protect former for-profit students

Munira Mirza claimed some academics wished to suppress intellectual freedom, in article written while working for King’s College London

Focus on graduate employment means universities will be judged on an issue over which they have limited control

Main political parties take different approaches to improving affordability of higher education

New Social Democrat administration drops annual 2 per cent saving target, but could end teaching subsidy for humanities and social sciences

Improved citation performance amid falling funding is the result of gaming, say Alberto Baccini, Eugenio Petrovich and Giuseppe De Nicolao

Some parliamentarians hope Bulgaria’s Mariya Gabriel will reshape the EU’s new research package to spread grants more evenly across the continent

Historically black colleges and universities in the US have never had the funding or the prestige enjoyed by many other institutions. Yet, argue Marybeth Gasman and Thai-Huy Nguyen, they may have much to teach us all about diversity

Julia Buckingham also aims to protect funding, as response to Augar review is debated

Graduate employment given double the weighting of other metrics in TEF-style assessments

Ministers expected to reject Augar fee cut plan, raising question of what will be election offer on university fees and funding

Chris Skidmore tells Tory conference meeting he wants UK research funding to emulate EU’s approach

Hesa data show how Labour’s 7 per cent proposal would potentially shake up the sector

History suggests that universities will lure students with the chance to repay fees via post-graduation work, says Peter Brady

Chris Skidmore says Augar review recommendation to cut tuition fees in England would lead to university closures

A cross-continental push to improve Europe’s best universities will make them more globally competitive, says Jan Palmowski

Cornell, New Mexico and Morehouse schemes highlight importance of debate at federal level, say experts

As governments around the world increasingly look to follow US states’ lead and link university funding to the recruitment, retention and employability of students, Paul Basken surveys the results of the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2020 for clues about the strategy’s effectiveness 

Weeks after Trump vow to strengthen HBCUs, key Republican senator causes row by tying funding to wider HE legislation

Fringe event also hears v-c complain that marketisation forces universities to ‘waste’ a ‘huge’ amount of money on marketing

University study centre ‘positive’ on Islam but not Christianity, objects senior Department of Education official

Lack of scholarly freedom in China threatens future progress for its universities and harms overseas partnerships, warns Scholars at Risk

Education secretary’s backing for subject-level exercise before publication of TEF review prompts university warnings of ‘significant diversion of staff time’

Capping universities’ intakes from private schools would require ‘highly controversial’ legislation on admissions, says one legal expert

Hong Kong Baptist University unrest comes as mass demonstrations in city pass 100-day mark, with major impact for universities

President Bolsonaro’s education cuts and opposition to racial quotas will hit current policies, says Marry Ferreira

Switch to students applying after receiving their results still faces sector resistance despite government and opposition signalling support

Lecturers’ union fears Andrew Scheer is portraying universities as left-wing ‘indoctrination centres’, with potentially damaging consequences

Encouraging Chinese students to access non-Chinese media sources can ease fears of systematic bias, says Tao Zhang

Frédérique Vidal discusses reform project launched in wake of president’s plan to abolish École Nationale d’Administration

A policy to recruit genuinely the brightest and best students would have to look beyond revenue maximisation

Committee compares Home Office attitude in ETS crackdown to Windrush scandal

Trump adviser plans multi-agency tour of universities confused by crackdown

Proposed new law not as tough as some feared – but critics argue focus on Dutch ignores benefits of studying in English

Contrition helps actress who paid to get answers changed on her daughter's SAT

But Layla Moran says party unlikely to finalise HE stance before next election – when it could secure pivotal role in event of hung Parliament

Long-awaited francophone university in largest Canadian province to emphasise humanities

International School for Government chaired by former Australian foreign minister and launched by former UK prime minister Tony Blair

Monash union election called off at last minute following criticism

Colonial hangovers and political interference are holding back India’s large public universities, says Saikat Majumdar

Gavin Williamson also calls for restrictions on unconditional offers more widely, potentially via grade threshold or numbers cap

Shift in alignment towards US sparks doubts over Horizon Europe association

Commons Science and Technology Committee also calls for rebalancing of funding between disciplines and greater support for small, specialist institutions

Brexit, domestic funding threats and declining public trust could conspire to undermine a critical national asset, says Louise Richardson

International students want to know that they are studying in a country that can set them up for a successful career, says Seema Kennedy

Boris Johnson government announces reversal of Theresa May’s abolition of the visas, seven years on

MP moved back to old brief after less than seven weeks away, replacing Jo Johnson

Mariya Gabriel to take on role with increased ‘weight and visibility’