Breaking News
DENMARK
Jan Petter Myklebust
In advance of the general election, the board chairs of Denmark’s eight universities called on the government to recognise the ‘significant contribution’ that international students make to the Danish economy and allow more of them to come to Denmark to study.
Top Stories
UNITED STATES-GLOBAL
US on cusp of no longer being classed a liberal democracy
Nathan M Greenfield
Academic freedom has declined more quickly in the United States than any other country, according to the latest index. Once a global role model for institutional autonomy and academic freedom, the country now risks being an exporter of bad models, experts say.
CHINA
Amber Wang
MIDDLE EAST
Wagdy Sawahel
AFRICA-MIDDLE EAST
Wagdy Sawahel, Michael Ainomugisha and Abdulganiyu Abdulrahman Akanbi
News
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
A group of scholarly organisations in the United States is challenging last year’s termination of US$100 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants identified as having a ‘disfavoured’ and ‘dangerous viewpoint’ by a two-person Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, team with the help of ChatGPT.
SOUTH AFRICA
Desmond Thompson
NORWAY-NORDIC COUNTRIES
Jan Petter Myklebust
FINLAND
Jan Petter Myklebust
NIGERIA
Abdulrasheed Hammad
In a strong message to the higher education sector, Nigeria’s Federal High Court has ordered the University of Calabar to pay NGN55 million (US$40,440) to eight former engineering students who were admitted into an unaccredited programme at the university. The students filed the case in 2021.
INDIA
Shuriah Niazi
In a move giving significant relief to thousands of Indian students who pursued medical education abroad, India’s medical regulator has scrapped an earlier rule that required students to compensate, with additional in-person training, for any portion of their medical degree completed online.
AFRICA
Wachira Kigotho
Academic freedom could be an agent of peace in Africa, with scholars at African universities playing a positive role in preventing hostilities by influencing political leaders and governments to consider conflict resolution. Scholars could also act as opinion leaders who promote attitudes that reject violence.
Edtech, AI and Higher Education
GLOBAL
Lily Bi
The AI era is not something business schools can afford to wait out. Rather, their students must learn to ask the right questions, think critically about technology’s role in society, and lead with both competence and conscience. The future of work – and of business education – depends on it.
Special Report: Changemakers IV
UNITED KINGDOM
The University of Manchester in England is weaving social responsibility into its core missions – from global health partnerships and locally-based civic strategies, to sustainable campus operations. Together, these initiatives reflect a commitment to ethical practice, environmental awareness and measurable impact for communities at local, regional and international levels.
UNITED KINGDOM
Dorothy Lepkowska and Brendan O’Malley
AFRICA-UNITED KINGDOM
Wachira Kigotho
UNITED KINGDOM-GLOBAL
GLOBAL
Kalinga Seneviratne and Brendan O’Malley
World Blog
EUROPE
Francesco Sanasi and Miguel Jacques
Two new projects, one research-based and the other practice-based, funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme, exemplify the innovative and forward-thinking efforts underway in the credential recognition community and underscore the importance of enhanced collaboration across the sector.
SDGs
GLOBAL
Libing Wang and Min Bahadur Bista
Comparative and International Education, or CIE, is no longer simply a field of academic inquiry; it is becoming a strategic form of expertise, one that helps development professionals navigate competing visions of education, multiple centres of power and increasingly complex policy environments.
AFRICA
Desmond Thompson
The innovative approach of the African Higher Education in Emergencies Network, a consortium of African universities, training providers and refugee-led organisations, focuses on expanding access for displaced persons to accredited employment-oriented tertiary qualifications. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than 30% of the world’s refugee population.
KENYA
Wilson Odhiambo
A dynamic student trio from the Technical University of Kenya has devised an innovative way to tackle plastic waste pollution. Their environmentally friendly food packaging material can detect food spoilage and extend the shelf life of food products by reducing microbial activity.
Top Stories from Last Week
RUSSIA
Nina Izmailova
Since the attack on Ukraine in 2022, Russian universities have moved from passive enablers of the war to active recruiters, with professors counselling enlistment over theses. This betrayal represents one of the most alarming developments in global higher education since the invasion itself.
EUROPE
Izabella Agardi and Andrea Peto
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
GLOBAL
Nathan M Greenfield
GLOBAL
James Yoonil Auh
The rise of artificial intelligence on campuses has created conceptual confusion. People assume machine intelligence is replacing human intelligence; in reality, most AI systems are statistical prediction tools. The most important form of intelligence for universities to cultivate remains human understanding and judgment.
AFRICA
Alberto Leny
Science diplomacy can contribute towards building climate change resilience and adaptation capacities, according to a French initiative involving six universities in East Africa. The Doctoral Alliance for Climate Adaptation was founded on the premise that science diplomacy offers a powerful framework to address climate change.
UNITED KINGDOM
Brendan O’Malley
The United Kingdom will later this month apply a blanket ‘emergency brake’ on visas for nationals from four conflict-affected countries, following a surge in asylum claims from legal routes, many of them by students. The ban may later be extended to other countries.
GLOBAL
Min Bahadur Bista
Over the past decade, the number of female leaders among top global universities has nearly doubled, reflecting one of the most significant cultural shifts in modern higher education. Yet progress remains uneven. A growing body of research provides insights into why this is so.