Politics

Politicians seeking to quell discontent about inequality and pre-empt populists could turn on elite institutions, observers predict

Removal of UK universities from key European research project highlights financial impact of impasse over EU exit

Australia’s vice-chancellors must wake up: China's munificence is all motivated by its vast geopolitical ambition, says Nick Forster

Apparent moves to increase university autonomy will have the opposite effect given the government’s authoritarian tendencies, says Jarosław Płuciennik

The quality of Indian higher education outside a few elite institutions is notoriously poor, and a slew of initiatives aimed at addressing it have made little impact so far. Simon Baker analyses the data to assess the scale of the challenge and asks what more could and should be done

Opponents should learn from Chinese candidates’ successful and potentially formative forays into democratic politics, says Salvatore Babones

Bolsonaro’s latest appointment seen as likely to continue hostility to universities

But revival of the demand-driven system would be a mixed blessing, consultant warns

Clearly joining Bernie Sanders in free-college camp, senator widens party split on cost crisis

Campus voyeur let off too lightly, critics complain

Student action shows US colleges far from accepting their slavery-related debts

Emma Dabiri’s research uncovers the ways that our immediate reactions to people are still underpinned by the ideologies of ‘scientific racism’

Ford administration is blind to incompatibility of statistical metrics and quality teaching, academics warn

Fractures emerge between Democratic candidates – but they, and even Republicans, actually share broad concerns on affordability

Shin Sung-chul, who is under investigation by the Korean government, says state is starting to provide more freedom to universities but progress is slow

Former universities minister says that, while parents of students with poorer A-levels could pay fees up front, less affluent families could not

Big datasets linking higher education participation to a range of socio-economic factors are useful and fascinating, but their translation into policy remains fraught 

The advent of datasets linking graduates’ income to their student records has fuelled calls for certain courses and universities to be excluded from public funding. But, ahead of England’s Augar review of post-18 education, the minister who commissioned the longitudinal education outcomes project, David Willetts, warns against such abuses of the data

A Labor victory in May’s election could still see funding conditional on universities’ employability, diversity or research records, says Andrew Norton

Montenegro becomes one of the first countries to outlaw not only plagiarism, but also donation of authorship and fabrication of research results

Vetoing promotions is a way to polarise society against intellectuals, says art historian whose professorship has been rejected

After more than doubling its spending since the financial crisis, Germany’s long budget boom is set to come to an end

Commentators question value of exercise when Augar review has yet to report and Office for Students is already exploring issue

Australian government baulks at legislative amendments to clarify free speech and academic freedom

Rule-making ends with surprise pact after administration retreats from extremes

Alongside concern about unconditional offers, Damian Hinds wants focus on improving access

Despite its tarnished reputation and history of collapsed ventures, the for-profit sector retains a strong foothold on the US academy. Paul Basken tracks its successes and failures

Political scientists typically see politics as an exercise in consensus-building. But Chantal Mouffe tells John Morgan that the left must learn from right-wing populists’ exploitation of “them and us” narratives if it is not to be vanquished by them

Agreement that EU research funding should continue to be distributed according to quality is an important step forward, writes Jan Palmowski

With public angered by bid to boost accused, Republicans take to sidelines

University leaders claim shift could water down standards, but applied sciences institutes think they are simply defending historic privileges

Suggestions that review could yet be published before PM’s departure come as AoC says it will push DfE to ‘publish and implement’

Government affirms Medical Research Future Fund but raids dormant infrastructure kitty

Despite legal setbacks, administration stops Obama rule forgiving duped borrowers

While waiting to transform economies, modern monetary theory is raising interest in a humble Missouri university department

‘Hotline’ created by Thierry Baudet’s party ‘goes against everything we stand for’, says Maastricht president

Reduction in fees for rest-of-UK students would add to ‘perfect storm of uncertainty’, says Universities Scotland

Policymakers shy away from regulatory reform as court cases progress

Indian scholar explains why she thinks guidelines on ensuring PhDs focus on ‘national priorities’ are dangerous and wrong

Thierry Baudet’s anti-immigration, anti-European Union party had its ‘cradle’ in Leiden thesis, former supervisor says

Department advertises for ‘policy expert on HE financial sustainability’ who will shape stance on ‘potential intervention’ if institutions risk closure

Former Brexit secretary calls on Philip Augar’s review panel to lighten the burden of student borrowing

Universities unable to deliver governments’ ‘unrealistic expectations’ of prosperity and social mobility, says English funding review member

Despite thin pickings this time around, Trudeau’s Liberals have probably done enough to win the science vote in October’s election, says Creso Sá

Edict reveals limited levers available to US president

Post-18 education review also said to have looked at proposals to allocate top-up public funding according to subjects’ cost of provision

Evidence on international students’ tax payments raises ‘serious concerns’ about rejection of post-study work visa return, says report for Hepi

For those reliant on EU funding, seeking appointments at continental universities is the only sensible course, says Peter Coveney

Call for more transparency over disbursement of Australia’s A$20 billion (£10.7 billion) Medical Research Future Fund

Trudeau’s spending splurge seen as an attempt to curry favour with voters ahead of federal election

Administration plan focuses on job success measures as Congress eyes rapid work

Inclusion of hard target seen as a major win for sector, potentially shifting power away from Home Office

Brunel University London vice-chancellor to take role at potentially crucial time for English universities

As universities become ever more wary of negative publicity, leaders who speak out on contentious issues are increasingly finding themselves in hot water. Ellie Bothwell reports

Education secretary said to be preparing announcements on grade inflation, essay mills and unconditional offers in England

Complaints about depictions of contentious historical figures should be met with sensitivity and a firm grasp of the facts, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

Cutting the number of people who benefit from a university education will do nothing to improve the lot of those who do not, says Graham Galbraith

Recruiting a five-year, full-time president could transform the umbrella body’s ability to defend the sector, says Sir Anthony Seldon

Philip Hammond also says panel report for post-18 review will be ‘published shortly’

MillionPlus wants end to judging visa applicants on which university they plan to attend, to ‘credibility interviews’ and to 10 per cent refusal rate threshold