The last-minute hunt for places on university courses that we call “clearing” begins today. The name takes on a particular irony this year for both school leavers and universities, because the situation…
As A-level results day approaches, students and universities alike are gearing up for the most frantic period in the academic year - the short window during which results are issued and offers of places…
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal titled Humanities Fall From Favour reveals a further escalation in the crisis affecting the humanities. Harvard University, “a standard-bearer of American letters…
The higher education sector’s main regulatory body should have its functions reduced, according to a new government report that has called for a reduction in red tape for universities. The Tertiary Education…
“Today’s drop-out rates are higher than ever before, 20% across-the-board, and in some cases one-in-two. And that’s just one side effect of the demand driven system.” National affairs correspondent Heather…
With a new leader at the helm, a new higher education minister and an election not too far away, university policy seems to be up in the air. Since starting his new portfolio, minister Kim Carr has floated…
A recent article on The Conversation, “Busting the top five myths about open access publishing” is a spirited defense of open access (OA) publishing. The article, by ANU’s Danny Kingsley, outlined “myths…
“At the moment, we’ve got international graduates who are getting preference over Australian doctors in some states.” - Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton, National Press Club Address…
“The fact remains there is a very strong correlation between people’s entry score at university and their success rate.” - higher education minister Senator Kim Carr, ABC’s 7.30, 17 July. Correlating entry…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Alexia Attwood, The Conversation
The government’s proposed cap on work-related education expense deductions will decrease long run GDP by between A$2.8 and $6 billion per year and cut national productivity growth by between 0.2 to 0.4…
Australian higher education is dominated by its universities, and therefore by institutions that have dual teaching and research missions. There is a long debate about whether these two activities complement…
Universities in this country are under increased pressure to share information about the activities of students and staff whether for immigration purposes, in relation to activism on campus or even in…
A study of 11,000 alumni from the University of Oxford has shown that humanities graduates went on to work in the UK’s major growth sectors. The Oxford study can’t tell us much about the fate of graduates…
In the last few weeks, we have seen a number of universities begin to push for extra funding from Australian philanthropists. While this move to broaden the revenue base of universities is welcome, to…
Rather than lock up knowledge in costly journals, increasingly universities and governments are recognising that publicly funded research should be open to all. This past year has seen new open access…
The recent news that higher education minister Kim Carr may reconsider A$900 million worth of cuts imposed on universities at the expense of the demand-driven system for funding undergraduate places has…
Foundation essay: This article on the rise of massive open online courses by Martin Weller, Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University, is part of a series marking the launch of The Conversation…
Australia may be going through higher education ministers at an extraordinary rate, but they seem determined to use their time in office. First Craig Emerson announced major funding cuts to universities…
The rise of student numbers in Australian universities that followed the lifting of a cap on enrolment quotas last year is concerning, newly-minted Higher Education Minister Kim Carr said today. Under…
In his spending review, Chancellor George Osborne announced cuts to the universities budget, targeted mainly at funding used to encourage students from under-represented groups to apply for university…