INTO Knowledge - Market News Bulletin: October 18 – November 9, 2011
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INTO Knowledge - Market News Bulletin: October 18 – November 9, 2011 UK November 7- Prospects brighten for graduates seeking work The annual What Graduates Do? study, by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (Hecsu), is based on the survey responses of 233,864 graduates from the class of 2010. It says that six months after finishing their courses, 69.7 per cent were in employment – a 7.9 per cent increase on last year. The report also says that 63.4 per cent of respondents had graduate-level jobs, an improvement of almost 10 per cent on the previous year. November 3- This is a once-in-a-decade chance to introduce PQA, Ucas head says The issue of whether students should apply to university after taking their A levels rather than before should be "put to bed" for at least a decade if parties fail to agree in the wake of the latest set of proposals. That is the view of Mary Curnock Cook, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, who this week unveiled detailed plans to introduce post-qualification applications (PQA) from 2016. November 3- Border crossings dwindle as students opt for home fees Complex tuition-fee arrangements in different parts of the UK are restricting movement by penning some students in their home countries, analysis suggests. Final application data for courses with a 15 October deadline show that Northern Irish students are shunning Great Britain, and fewer English students are applying to Scotland. October 31- Ucas launches consultation on post-results admissions system Under plans outlined today by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, prospective students would apply after receiving their A-level results from 2016, rather than on the basis of their predicted grades. Students would sit their exams 15 days earlier in mid-May under the new system and receive their results in mid-July when the main applications window would open. Armed with their results, individuals could then apply to up to two institutions, instead of five at present. October 28- Britain and China to Expand Education Ties China and Britain have pledged to work together to forge closer educational ties over the next three years, focusing specifically on higher education, vocational education, basic education, and language instruction. The enhanced collaboration will include more partnerships between universities in the two countries and efforts to encourage more British students to study in China. Britain also plans to pilot an apprenticeship program in China for skilled workers in training beginning next year. October 24- Universities see 40pc fall in soft subject applications Overall applications for university courses starting in 2012 have fallen by 9 per cent but the subjects worst hit are those which students may consider would offer the least reward and which tend to be offered by the less prestigious institutions. Applications for 'mass communication and documentation' subjects, such as media studies and PR, have been hit the hardest, falling 40.6 per cent compared to this time last year. October 20- Some universities to drop fees to under £7,500 More than one-fifth of universities and colleges in England are thinking about reducing their tuition fees for next autumn to under £7,500. The Office for Fair Access, the government watchdog on admissions, has said 28 institutions have shown an interest in changing their fees. October 19- UK Border Agency suspends University of Wales partner A University of Wales (UoW) partner college at the centre of allegations of a visa scam has been suspended by the UK Border Agency (UKBA). Rayat London College has been raided by the UKBA and will not be allowed to recruit students from overseas. BBC Wales revealed members of staff had been involved in offers to help overseas students cheat their way to UoW degrees and UK visas. 2 USA and Canada November 8- U.S. Graduate Schools See Significant Increase in Foreign Enrollments Enrollments of new international students at American graduate schools grew by 8 percent this fall, the strongest showing since 2006, according to a report released Tuesday by the Council of Graduate Schools. While the news is clearly good for American higher education, much of that growth came from a single country: China. October 31- Northeastern putting down stakes across the country Northeastern University is going south and west: It plans to open a regional campus in Charlotte, N.C., today and a similar outpost in Seattle within the year, with hopes of eventually planting flags in Austin, Minneapolis, the Silicon Valley area, and beyond. October 31- Stanford, Cornell Among 15 Universities Seeking New York Campus Stanford and Cornell are among 15 universities submitting seven bids to open a science and engineering campus in New York, responding to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's competition to create technology jobs. Columbia University, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, Rockefeller University and Amity University of India also entered proposals to the contest, which will grant the winner free city land and as much as $100 million in infrastructure improvements, Bloomberg said today. October 30- More Students Migrate Away From Home Public universities expand recruitment efforts in quest for out-of-state money. While conceding that out- of-state tuition at Arizona State would be higher than in-state tuition at any California university, Mr. Baertsch said students would get all of the classes they needed to graduate in four years, a not-so- subtle dig at the perpetual shortage of course offerings at the state universities. October 18- Enrollment in Massachusetts’s public colleges and universities up 23 percent in past decade Enrollment in public colleges and universities reached a 10-year high this year, growing nearly 23 percent since 2001, figures released today by the state Department of Higher Education show. The increase was largely driven by higher enrollment at community colleges, which grew nearly 28 percent, the education department said. Australia and New Zealand November 9- Fewer uni dropouts, says ACER report Students have become less likely to drop out, but universities may have to work harder than ever to keep them, a new Australian Council for Educational Research paper suggests. Australia's higher education completion rate has catapulted 8 percentage points to 80 per cent in just three years, according to the latest OECD estimate. November 2- Removal of diplomas 'punishes all' Victorian tertiary education experts have slammed the removal of diplomas and associate degrees from next year's demand-driven higher education funding system, saying the entire country is being punished for a Victorian problem. RMIT University policy adviser Gavin Moodie said the change was aimed at preventing dual-sector universities from beefing up their income by "shifting load" from vocational to higher education diplomas. November 1- Government caps university places for qualifications below bachelor degree From 2012 the government will fund most university qualifications on a demand-driven basis, so there will be no cap on how many students universities can enrol. But Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans says the government doesn't want the university sector to expand at the expense of TAFEs and other vocational education providers. To stop this happening, it will cap the number of places it funds for qualifications such as diplomas and advanced diplomas in universities. 3 Asia November 8- Open courses of top Chinese universities to go online Video classes of 20 courses from top Chinese universities will be available free of charge through the Internet starting Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Education. Similar to Harvard open courses, the video classes will be provided on www.icourse.edu.cn, China Network Television and the web portal Netease for free. October 30- India: Soaring demand doubles student loan numbers While the middle classes in India have traditionally pursued higher education for their children, rising aspirations among the lower-middle class and poor have led to soaring demand for student loans, despite families having to put assets on the line. The number of students applying for loans has more than doubled in five years. October 26- Hong Kong: An open door to foreign students Well positioned in world university rankings, Hong Kong has an open-door policy towards international students. The Hong Kong government has invested HK$1 billion in a bursary fund, the interest to be used to fund scholarships for international students. Universities like Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong compete at a world-class level. October 20- Two universities sign MoU with Delhi university Two universities from Kashmir today signed a memorandum of understanding with Delhi University for collaboration in areas of research, training, faculty and student exchange activities besides others. The MoU was signed by Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi Dinesh Singh and Vice Chancellors of Kashmir University and Islamic University of Science and Technology Talat Ahmad and Abdul Rashid Trag respectively in the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who is the Chancellor of the state universities. October 18- China: Tight curbs on indebted universities Local authorities in China have tightened up on debts owed by universities amid fears that big-spending institutions may default on their loans. The move could affect a number of international university collaborations where local and provincial authorities have agreed to fund major construction projects. International November 8- Global: Which students use agents? - British Council There are big differences around the world in the reasons why students turn to education agents for university and student visa applications, with use of agents highest in regions and countries where there is less familiarity with the target education system. Language issues are also important, a new study by the British Council has found.