Higher

Philip Booth: How to raise fees the painless way

The case for requiring undergraduate students to contribute to the cost of their tuition is now widely accepted. Lifetime earnings premiums of between £100,000 and £200,000 from undergraduate study are typical and, whatever the merits of government support for specific groups of students, it is difficult to make a case that all students should have all their fees financed by the taxpayer.

Inside Higher

Leading Article: Crisis in university applications

Thursday, 11 February 2010

There are various reasons why university applications have risen by 22.2 per cent this year. Some are technical, such as changes to the deadline for some art and design courses and the phasing out of the nursing diploma. But, even allowing for these changes, there is no doubt that applications have increased significantly. It is something to be celebrated, a welcome sign that aspirations and attainment are on the rise.

Is it time to name universities that don't make the grade?

Thursday, 11 February 2010

As complaints by university students continue to soar, Lucy Hodges meets the ombudsman who is considering whether to expose the worst-offending institutions

King's College set to expand into Somerset House

Thursday, 4 February 2010

King's College London is celebrating a triumph of sorts. After 180 years of coveting the East wing of Somerset House, and after many false dawns, it has finally got its hands on it. The men from the Inland Revenue who occupied the lovely neo-classical building have left, and the college is to expand, acquiring an architectural gem and more space.

Diary Of A Third Year: 'Exams are a relic of a bygone age and must be abolished'

Thursday, 4 February 2010

The exam season has nearly ended. The crowds in the library are thinning and there are fewer groups of smokers outside exam halls. For me, though, the exam season has been a breeze – mainly because I haven't had any.

Going straight: The ex-convict signing up other prisoners for degrees

Thursday, 28 January 2010

An amazing two-thirds of inmates emerge from jail to reoffend but an experiment in Buckinghamshire shows what happens when you offer them higher education. Lucy Hodges goes inside to see for herself

Leading Article: Calling a spade a spade

Thursday, 28 January 2010

It is rather refreshing to have David Lammy, the Higher Education minister, speak his mind about universities and the cutbacks. Higher education establishments certainly cannot complain that ministers are not coming clean with them. Writing in the magazine Policy Review, Mr Lammy said it would be a good few years before universities could expect to see any really significant increase in public funding. Therefore they could either contract or try to drum up funds from other sources by offering bespoke teaching to industry or setting up campuses abroad.

Sir David Melville: We need the best tutors to prepare future workers

Thursday, 28 January 2010

The education and skills system is facing up to the fact that the UK's mountainous budget deficit will lead inexorably to major funding cuts. The relative protection of schools means that reductions will impact chiefly on further and higher education and the intermediary bodies in the skills system. So, what does this mean?

Begin the new year on a positive note by enrolling in January or February

Thursday, 28 January 2010

There are many reasons for beginning a university course in the new year, such as deciding to stay in education too late to apply through UCAS or seeking a fresh start after redundancy.

Peter Crisp: Universities must start having private thoughts

Thursday, 21 January 2010

The uncharitable might observe that British universities are the NHS of the education sector: publicly funded, bureaucratic, world renowned for their research, managed by committee and not customer driven.

Diary Of A Third Year: Ski trips to the Alps are a mixture of immaturity and lewdness

Thursday, 21 January 2010

It's 12.30am at Dover ferry port. Covered in face paint, a student from Manchester University is being held with his arms behind his back, as another tries to pull his trousers down. Two policemen appear. Seeing the police, one lets go, while the other continues to pull at his friend's pants. A policeman coughs. The trouser-puller turns, sees them and makes a swift exit. Welcome to the world of university ski trips.

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