News

Stiff fines await over-recruiters, with London Met facing a possible £6m bill. John Morgan reports

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has deferred until the end of March more decisions on which areas of mathematics and physical sciences will grow or shrink.

The poor research record of US for-profit institutions makes them unworthy of the term "university", UK academics have claimed.

Business secretary overrules committee on Ebdon in a politically charged process. Simon Baker writes

Ebdon's Iceland holiday may have facilitated BIS panel's cold shouldering, reports Simon Baker

Blueprint will address tension between standards and participation levels. Matthew Reisz reports

A "cultural shift" is needed to embed "student-centred teaching" in universities, a new report claims.

John Gill has been appointed the new editor of Times Higher Education following the promotion of Ann Mroz to a new position within its parent company, TSL Education.

The Broadlands Archives at the University of Southampton include a huge quantity of material from Broadlands in Hampshire, the country residence of the 19th-century prime minister Lord Palmerston and later of Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India.

Survey finds course suitability is still the overriding factor influencing applicants. Simon Baker writes

Lecturer's agreement with publisher gives first-years core psychology texts for free. Matthew Reisz writes

Jon Marcus examines the trend for basing US university budgets on outcomes, not enrolments

Studentships will be restricted to 20 centres as council keeps numbers steady. Paul Jump reports

A legal battle over IRA interview tapes held by a US college is nearing its climax. Jon Marcus reports

Small gains for colleges may come at cost of university collaborations. David Matthews reports

The US Department of Education has emerged as one of the winners in Barack Obama’s 2013 budget request, with a 2.5 per cent increase in funding and promises of support for community colleges.

Les Ebdon will be appointed as the next director of the Office for Fair Access after it emerged that the prime minister has no powers to block the decision of Vince Cable, the business secretary, to appoint him.

Graduates entrepreneurs with “world-class innovative ideas” will be allowed to remain in the UK beyond their university studies, as the government responds to criticisms of its new visa regime for overseas students.

By Mitch Smith, for Inside Higher Ed

University and College Union members in newer universities will be given a “consultative ballot” on whether to reject the government’s latest pensions offer and strike again.

Leading figures from higher education in the UK and US have agreed to serve on a major new independent commission looking at the future of the sector in England.

Commissioner accelerates plan to ease flow of EU researchers and funding. Paul Jump reports

The journal publisher Elsevier has hit back after being pilloried for supporting an anti-open-access bill in the US Congress.

Austerity's icy grip may cause permanent damage to sectors in Spain, Italy and Ireland. Jack Grove writes

The organisation charged with promoting British education overseas has rounded on the government over its student-visa changes, calling for an "urgent review" of the policy to avert damage to the economy and the possible closure of university departments.

Head teacher castigates A level and calls for vice-chancellors to back 'tougher' International Baccalaureate. Jack Grove writes

The largest ever donation of material to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library came, somewhat surprisingly, from a Chicago ragtime pianist.

Links between terrorism and universities have been overstated, a committee of MPs has concluded, but some institutions are guilty of complacency on the issue.

Open-access online journal will speed release of data and encourage feedback. Paul Jump writes

Review of student-place allocations as institutions face cut of up to 14 per cent. Simon Baker reports

Researchers in business and management are much more communicative than those in pure mathematics or foreign languages.

General secretary contenders represent political debate over union's direction. John Morgan reports

Limited support for proposals on elected chairs and gender quotas. David Matthews writes

Non-EU postgraduates to pay same price as home students in sweeping reforms. Jack Grove reports

Coalition desire to expand range of copyright-free material angers academics. Matthew Reisz reports

High-profile debut in the academy holds no fear for Reading's v-c. Interview by Jack Grove

A political row over the next director of fair access has been sparked after Tory MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills select committee rejected the selection of Les Ebdon as preferred candidate.

Ministers could still have the final say on whether Les Ebdon is appointed as the next director of fair access, even though it looks likely that a committee of MPs has voted against his appointment.

Speculation is rife that the government’s preferred candidate for the post of director of fair access – Les Ebdon – has been blocked from the role by Conservative MPs after a delay in the announcement over the appointment.

The potential takeover of a private higher education college with degree-awarding powers has entered a crucial stage, with education giant Pearson reportedly the front-runner to secure the deal.

By Mitch Smith, for Inside Higher Ed

An independent inquiry has been launched to investigate postgraduate education.

The University of Essex has appointed a senior manager at Durham University as its new vice-chancellor.

Further education colleges are set to receive more student places from the price-based “margin” than universities after the initial allocations were revealed by the government.

Les Ebdon has used his first appearance before MPs as the government’s preferred choice for the post of director of fair access to lay down the gauntlet to highly-selective universities with “patchy” records on access.

Expanding the number of international students in the UK is not necessarily a good thing, immigration minister Damian Green has suggested.

With Dream Act faltering, president links federal aid to 'responsible' fees. Sarah Cunnane writes

A project that funds African academics whose careers are "stuck" because they lack the time or money for postgraduate study is asking the World Bank to help it grow tenfold.

The two universities aim to offer global market 'best of both worlds'. John Morgan reports

The coalition government must take the tough political decision to make student loans less generous if it wants to fix the "central impediment" to an "efficient, competitive and high-quality" higher education sector, according to a report out this week.