In-depth

Many of the business schools that prop up universities, in both China and the West, are bankrolled by Chinese families’ ambition. But amid economic slowdown and a growing recognition of the limits of Western practices, the return on investment is now being questioned, as three academics explain

Students’ recent firebombing of Nelson Mandela’s alma mater has raised more questions about whether the country’s universities can break out of a cycle of corruption, underfunding and violent protest. They can – but only with strong leadership and political will, hears Juliette Rowsell 

The UK government’s recent skills White Paper announced a review of ‘the merits of the sector continuing to use the external examining system for ensuring rigorous standards in assessments’. Four academics offer their views on whether it passes or fails that test

Last month’s deadly car bombing at Delhi’s Red Fort, allegedly planned and perpetrated by academics and doctors, has left observers asking what such an outrage says about the nature, quality and future of the country’s universities, writes Saikat Majumdar

Times Higher Education journalists name the change-makers at the heart of the sector’s biggest debates over the past 12 months

Cardiff’s January announcement of plans to cut 400 academic jobs and close several departments prompted a media firestorm that heaped opprobrium on its vice-chancellor. But she also received lots of quiet support for her efforts to put the university back on an even financial keel, she tells Chris Havergal

Chinese science’s meteoric rise has long prompted questions about whether it will ultimately eclipse the US. Many now see that as inevitable, as Donald Trump wreaks havoc on US science. But might wariness about collaboration hold China back? Tash Mosheim gauged the mood among Shaw Prize laureates in Hong Kong

Dark tales abound of various UK universities being at risk of breaching agreements with their banks. But what exactly are covenants? Why have they come to play such a prominent role in the conversation about sector health? And would breaking one really lead to institutional ruin? Helen Packer reports  

Political battles over a planned New Zealand medical school illustrate how the subject of where doctors are trained excites public passions like no other in higher education, explains John Ross

There have been more winners than losers since domestic student recruitment was uncapped in England. But without better stewardship, all institutions must do what they can to swing the market in their favour, regardless of national priorities or local needs, say David Maguire and Alex Bols

Last month, the Australian Academy of Science condemned the country’s ongoing review of research for ignoring a long-term funding decline that has left basic research at ‘breaking point’. Was that a rhetorical overstatement or a sober statement of fact? Five researchers offer their own perspectives

The provision of accommodation, recreation and even welfare services remains a central part of the UK university model even in an era of massification. But as cost pressures eat into both students’ and universities’ budgets, there is a growing sense that something has to give. Patrick Jack reports

While submitting to authority comes naturally to Asian universities, their Western counterparts have traditionally resisted coercion. But Donald Trump’s compact could change the game with the illusion of a freedom-restricting deal that is freely entered into, writes Saikat Majumdar

Africa’s flagship university may have escaped the arson that has blighted some South African campuses but its research prowess could have gone up in smoke earlier this year when Donald Trump began slashing research funding, Cape Town’s vice-chancellor tells Jack Grove

The recent skills White Paper foreshadows the shuttering of some or all research in certain UK universities. But what will the effects of that be on teaching – and on research itself? How could it be enacted? And will it even happen at all? Jack Grove reports

An early adopter of transnational education, Singapore has been curiously inactive recently, even as other Asian countries ramp up their own internationalisation efforts. Will local sensitivities about immigration levels trump the city state’s need for foreign talent, asks Helen Packer

The Teaching Excellence Framework’s reliance on existing outcomes and satisfaction data, as proxies for teaching quality, has always invited criticism. But with the OfS now proposing to use it to assess compliance with regulatory conditions, the TEF might have finally found its niche. Juliette Rowsell reports

Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University was founded only 15 years ago but it is already the region’s leading higher education institution. But that is far from the limit of its ambitions, its new president, Waqar Ahmad, tells Chris Havergal

Covid, inflation and immigration crackdowns in the anglophone ‘big four’ have fuelled speculation that Asian students will switch to cheaper, safer and friendlier options closer to home. But are we really about to see a major redrawing of student migration routes? Tash Mosheim and Paul Jump report

The European Research Area was first proposed 25 years ago in the hope of levelling up Europe’s national research systems and challenging global rivals. Implementing that vision has been achingly slow, but with legislation pending, is serious progress now realistic? Emily Dixon reports

In the digital era, inserting a reference into a text is as easy as pressing control-K. So why do universities still insist on troubling students with the minutiae of traditional referencing styles that will be of no use to them in the professional world, ask Vivek Pundir and Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera

The Trump administration is trying to extort universities to submit to its control. To defend the university against such overreach is to affirm a broad constitutional tradition that limits state power over institutions devoted to truth and justice, writes Adam Sitze

The quasi-merger of the universities of Kent and Greenwich has raised questions about how many other higher education institutions might see an opportunity – or a necessity – to team up as financial pressures bite ever harder. Six experts share their views

Georgiann Davis’ gripping account of growing up intersex and obese in a dysfunctional provincial family is a ‘queer’ response to J. D. Vance’s celebrated Hillbilly Elegy. But will the Trump administration’s opposition to gender studies spoil her happy ending? Matthew Reisz reports 

The panel’s overriding concern is to ensure that research is used productively. But observers worry that pushing universities to specialise in centrally determined ‘focus areas’ risks inadvertently turning them, in effect, into government agencies. John Ross reports

The Research Excellence Framework has been postponed for three months ‘to take stock and ensure alignment with the UK government’s priorities and vision for higher education’. But how radical should the changes be? Should there be any at all? Is it time to start again? We present five very different views

Hopes were high that the end of the far-right Law and Justice Party’s eight years in power would herald a new dawn, after needed reforms to research assessment were undermined by politicisation. But, two years in, scholars are getting restless. Emily Dixon reports

PQA has been repeatedly rejected in recent decades, but with this year seeing another record number of students placed via the clearing system, is it being adopted by default? And would a wholesale switch address equity concerns or lower-tariff institutions’ recruitment woes? Juliette Rowsell reports

The retirement of arguably the UK’s most politically adept university leader leaves big boots to fill. The Glasgow principal talks to Jack Grove about 40 years of sectoral evolution, his thoughts on Scottish university funding and his concerns about the now-paused changes to the 2029 REF

A sector described by a leading party figure as a ‘conveyor belt for communism’ is understandably wary of Nigel Farage’s latest right-wing populist project. But Reform UK persistently tops opinion polls. And the party’s annual conference suggests universities have a lot of ground to make up with it. Patrick Jack reports

Financial strains and the emergence of digital testing have led to concerns that anglophone universities are admitting students whose English is not good enough to allow them to succeed. But are tests really becoming less rigorous – or are universities setting pass rates that are too low? Helen Packer reports 

China’s post-pandemic economic slowdown is continuing to depress the graduate job market – and graduates themselves. But while the government looks to universities to address the malaise, many observers suggest that they lack the autonomy to do so effectively. Tash Mosheim reports

The London School of Economics philosopher speaks to Matthew Reisz about following up her best-selling memoir Free, the state of academic freedom in the UK and the US and the misogyny faced by women academics

Many fear algorithms will displace academics but the technology is already eating itself and its long-term business model remains unclear, says Martin A. Mills. Here he explains why bots will not wipe out universities and why we must resist their damaging features for the good of students, society and AI itself

A university participation rate of more than 50 per cent did not prevent the Soviet Union’s collapse. With UK participation at a similar level 30 years on, the sector is in meltdown and politicians are showing little appetite to ride to the rescue. Are we headed for a revolution, asks Lincoln Allison

UK universities have no need to oversell their benefits to individuals or societies, but they do need to demonstrate an ability to foster both free speech and civil disagreement – while carefully navigating their ‘slightly nerve-racking’ reliance on overseas students, UCL’s provost tells Chris Havergal

Donald Trump’s assaults on US science and universities in many ways mirror those previously enacted in Brazil by Jair Bolsonaro. Two years on from the latter’s election defeat, Patrick Jack assesses what the current state of Brazilian science says about how US institutions might fare post-Trump

The failings of peer reviewers, editors, journalists and authors led to a 15-year struggle to retract an article that should never have been published in the first place. But does the withdrawal of a paper for reasons other than misconduct set a dangerous precedent? No, says David Sanders

As student visa restrictions mount and domestic fee income declines, interest in transnational education is growing. But while the quality of domestic higher education is often tightly regulated, overseas provision can be a very different story. Helen Packer reports 

Cultural studies academic Rachael Gunn’s breakdancing performance at the Paris Olympics went viral for all the wrong reasons. One year on, she tells John Ross that although processing the ridicule has had to take priority over her academic career, she would do it all again

As he begins his stint as Universities UK president, Malcolm Press tells Helen Packer that the sector’s demands of government need to be realistic about the constrained state of public finances and that the sector will have to address its own problems through efficiencies and collaboration 

For two decades, Germany has spent billions of euros on boosting the research capacity of its top institutions. As selection proceeds for another six-year Excellence Strategy, Emily Dixon examines whether greater competition and stratification are having the desired effects

Marketisation and the pandemic pushed student preferences to the top of every university’s teaching and learning agenda. But should those preferences be acted on even if they risk undermining educational outcomes? Juliette Rowsell reports

US-based researchers have dominated the Nobel prizes, but more than one-third of them were born abroad, drawn by the US’ world-leading research ecosystem. But many Nobel laureates fear that Donald Trump’s assault on that ecosystem will choke off the flow of future prizes. Jack Grove reports 

The annual Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit drew thousands of students and a host of Republican luminaries. But the event was rather overshadowed by the row over Jeffrey Epstein’s client list. And mentions of university policy were as rare as purple hair, reports Patrick Jack

Caught between academic and service roles, educational developers have struggled to define their exact remit. As AI raises questions about the value of HE, they should focus on implementing leaders’ pedagogical strategy in line with different academic cultures, say Claire Gordon and Samantha Smidt

An Indian university founder recently quoted Google AI in defence of his institution’s failure to back an under-fire academic. The incident exemplifies the threat posed to viewpoint diversity on campus by our increasing reliance on a tool trained to favour the majority view, says Saikat Majumdar 

Once, Australia offered generous scholarships to help overseas students gain an Australian degree. Now it relies on their fees to keep its HE system afloat. But with significant proportions of some developing countries’ students now studying abroad, has the model become too ‘extractive’? John Ross reports

This year’s marking season has confirmed for many academics that, less than three years since the launch of ChatGPT, AI use by students has become so rife that their submitted writing is no longer a reliable indicator of what they have learned. Three scholars offer their views on where to go from here

The overhauling of two major graduate earnings surveys has highlighted that existing figures are an uncertain measure of a degree’s value even in narrow economic terms. But by talking up the graduate premium in its promotional material, was the sector already doing itself a disservice? Patrick Jack reports

When student complaints were made against a high-achieving female scientist, her institution launched a one-man inquiry that found her blameworthy merely ‘for doing my job’, she writes: a ‘textbook case of institutional gaslighting’ that was a betrayal of scientific standards

As she ends her five years as chief executive of UKRI, the plant scientist warns that forcing all institutions and researchers to pursue a single definition of research excellence is impoverishing the research base on which the government’s more eye-catching ambitions depend. Jack Grove reports

Europe has launched a raft of schemes to lure US academics. But as the far right’s power increases across the continent, would-be émigrés could be forgiven for fearing that universities in their adopted homes could also fall victim to Trump-style populist assault. Emily Dixon reports 

Opponents of identity politics can be expected to approve of the president’s crackdown on EDI. But are his assaults on research funding and international students – not to mention his hugely divisive wider agenda – giving any pause for thought? Matthew Reisz went to the University of Buckingham to find out

Malaysia and South Korea are making the most rapid advances in tables showing best universities for sustainability, writes Patrick Jack

UK universities remain committed to hybrid working, bucking wider return-to-the office trends. But at a time of mass redundancies and increasing workloads, would professional services staff be better off if their work were more visible to the university community? Juliette Rowsell reports

As the Trump administration proposes enormous cuts for the US’ world-renowned science agencies, Jack Grove looks into what is driving the attacks beyond political malice – and what, if anything, can be done to plug the huge funding gaps

Redundancies are being pushed through at many universities even as their accounts attest to relatively robust financial health. But as Labor’s de facto caps on international enrolment start to bite, some suggest that vice-chancellors are right to be prudent. John Ross reports

The task of reading and rating the thousands of outputs submitted to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework is notoriously Herculean. Could AI ease the burden – or would its use undermine the whole point of having REF panels? As Jisc consults on that question, four writers offer their views

The economist’s surprise victory in April’s election raised hopes of an end to Canada’s crackdown on overseas enrolments. But even as other anglophone nations restrict entry, there is no sign of interest in what many in Canadian HE see as an opportunity to corner the market. Patrick Jack reports