From the Times of Malta:
Thousands of students blocked the centre of Rome today as part of nationwide protests against proposed budget cuts in the university system that are set to be put to a vote later in the day.
Up to 50,000 students formed spontaneous processions throughout the capital in a concerted attempt to "paralyse" the city, dubbed "Block Everything Day," organisers said.
From The Georgia Straight:
B.C. Liberal leadership contender Moira Stilwell says she wants to see a decrease to interest rates on postsecondary student loans.
But the provincial chair of a national student lobby group argues the former cabinet minister should go further.
“At the current rate of prime plus 2.5 per cent, the student loan interest rate in B.C. is the highest in Canada,” Stilwell says in a news release today (November 29).
“I believe it should be reduced to no more than prime plus one per cent.”
From the PEI Guardian:
A controversial bill that would pave the way for other degree-granting institutions outside of UPEI is being postponed, Premier Robert Ghiz announced this morning at Province House.
The province was planning to introduce a new Degree Granting Act this fall. That was in response to developer Richard Homburg’s plans to develop Homburg University, a privately funded school focusing on real estate studies.
UPEI mounted a campaign against the act and Opposition Leader Olive Crane called on the province to shelve the bill until public consultations were held.
Under the Irish government's National Recovery Plan, student fees are slated to increase by 33% from €1,500 to €2,000. It also seems that the fee will no longer be tied to "student services".
This clip from The New York Times examines the massive shift taking place at the intersection of education and technology:
A study by the UK's Higher Education Policy Institute has concluded that tripling the fee cap will be no more successful in creating a market in higher education than the original introduction of £3,000 top-up fees.More here from University World News.
Instead, HEPI predicts that, within just a few years, most universities will charge students the full £9,000 for tuition, as university managers will feel they have to charge the full rate to avoid being perceived as being of a lower standard or less prestigious. If this prediction is borne out, the impact may be felt more through the rise in fees than a fall in quality.
From the Canadian Press:
The leader of the Opposition in P.E.I. says proposed legislation that would allow schools other than the University of Prince Edward Island to grant degrees should be put on hold.
Olive Crane says a legislative standing committee should first review the so-called Degree Granting Act.
Crane says the planned legislation would change the future direction of post-secondary education in the province and it deserves further scrutiny.
The Canadian Federation of Students–Newfoundland and Labrador has released a policy paper to support its ongoing "Fund the Future" campaign. The key recommendations in the document relate to tuition fees, student financial aid, and post-secondary education funding. These are summarized as follows:
Tuition fees: Progressively reduce tuition fees, including ancillary fees with the goal of ultimately eliminating them for domestic and international students at all public post-secondary institutions in Newfoundland and Labrador.The paper, Fund the Future: A Vision for Post-Secondary Education in Newfoundland and Labrador, may be downloaded here in .pdf format.
Student aid: Progressively expand the current needs-based grants program until a full system of grants is restored; Remove ‘tools’ and ‘equipment’ from ‘books’ in the needs assessment formula and increase the total allotment; Eliminate pre- and during study contributions from the needs assessment formula.
Funding: Increase core funding for Memorial University of Newfoundland and the College of the North Atlantic; Increase core funding for university based research and development, particularly for graduate students in the form of fellowships.
From the Canadian Press:
Real estate businessman Richard Homburg is proposing a new, privately financed university in Prince Edward Island.
He says if it proceeds, Homburg University's programs would be intended for Canadian and international executives and managers in real estate.
Programs would be offered through online video conference classes and summer sessions in Charlottetown.
Only the University of Prince Edward Island can grant degrees in the province.
But the government has proposed legislative changes to be debated this fall to allow Homburg University to offer degrees.
From CBC News:
University of Prince Edward Island president Wade MacLauchlan is upset about a P.E.I. government plan that would allow other post-secondary institutions the ability to grant bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees.
The province plans to introduce a degree-granting act in the fall sitting of the legislature to allow for the changes.
UPEI and the Maritime Christian College are the only degree-granting institutions in the province.
The UPEI president said he first heard about the idea in a letter a few days ago from Innovation and Advanced Learning Minister Allan Campbell.
Campbell said the change will allow the P.E.I. post-secondary learning system to evolve and expand.
The minister notes that in the future some of the degree-granting institutions will likely have online training as a key part of their programs.
Tens of thousands of students are marching in London today to protest against proposed increases in university fees.
According to a study released on Monday by the Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU), universities in Atlantic Canada contributed $2.6 billion to the regional economy in 2008. The report notes that, unlike other regions in Canada, the higher education sector in Atlantic Canada conducts almost 60% of all research and plays "the central role in research" in the Atlantic region.
The full report may be downloaded here in .pdf format.
Matthew Mendelsohn writing for the Literary Review of Canada about 2006 talks amongst political leaders and policy makers regarding the renegotiation of Canada's equalization program:
During those meetings, a senior government official from outside Ontario helpfully explained to me that Ontario could in fact fund more generous transfers to other provinces if Ontario would “just raise your property taxes by a couple of percentage points.” I tried to imagine an Ontario politician making that case to Ontarians on the stump: “We’re raising property taxes, but don’t worry—it will ensure that other provinces can keep their university tuitions way more affordable than we can here! I hope I can count on your support!”
From the the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada:
High-school dropout rates in Canada have fallen dramatically over the past two decades, according to a report released today by the Centre for Education Statistics.
The overall rate has been cut in half, from 16.6 per cent in 1990-91 to 8.5 per cent in 2009-10 — or from roughly one in six students to one in 12.
The article released by the Centre for Education Statistics, "Trends in dropout rates and the labour market outcomes of young dropouts," provides data by province. It shows that high-school dropout rates have fallen significantly in all provinces. The high-school dropout rate is defined as the share of 20- to 24-year-olds who are not attending school and who have not graduated from high school.
It also shows that while young men continue to have higher dropout rates than young women, the gender gap has narrowed, as the share of young men dropping out has fallen more dramatically. The dropout rate for young men fell from 19.2 per cent in 1990-91 to 10.3 per cent in 2009-10, while that for young women fell from 14.0 per cent to 6.6 per cent in the same period.
Also of note:
- Despite improvements throughout the country, dropout rates were persistently higher outside of big cities, in the territories, and among Aboriginal youth. Currently, the dropout rate for First Nations people living off-reserve, Métis, and Inuit is 22.6 per cent, over two and a half times that for non-Aboriginal people.
- The unemployment rate for high-school dropouts aged 20 to 24 was more than double that for high-school graduates of the same age, and the gap widened during the deepest part of the economic downturn. The downturn hit those with lower levels of educational attainment the hardest.
Tomorrow is the 7th annual College Day on all 17 campuses of College of the North Atlantic across Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) has released a report on the results of the learn$ave project. This project was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) as a tool for encouraging low-income earners to save for and participate in adult education and training.
The learn$ave IDAs provided $3 in matched savings credits for every dollar put aside, up to $1,500 over a three-year period — meaning that participants could accumulate up to $6,000 to be used for education, training, or a small business start-up.
The results suggest that the learn$ave program helped to increase participation in adult education training beyond what would otherwise have been the case:
Enrollment in education and training programs leading to a credential was increased by 13 percentage points for the program group that received the matched saving credits and ancillary services of financial management training and enhanced case management. Close to 69% of that group enrolled in education programs, mostly in college and university, compared to 56% of those belonging to the control group. In relative terms, this translates into a 23% increase over what the participants would have done in the absence of learn$ave.Download the full report here in .pdf format.
This story was in the news last week and has been picked up by University World News:
Finland has both the most affordable and accessible system of higher education, according to a study of 17 countries undertaken by Canadian research group Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA). Norway is a close runner-up.
The country rankings were derived from a composite of six different measures of affordability and four measures of accessibility, in the study by Alex Usher and Jon Medow titled Global Higher Education Rankings 2010: Affordability and Accessibility in Comparative Perspective.
The countries surveyed were Australia, Canada, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United States.
The most 'affordable' higher education was to be found exclusively in Europe: Finland was the most affordable, followed by Norway, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
English-speaking countries fared less well: Canada, New Zealand, England and Wales, the United States and Australia were ranked 9th to 13th, respectively.
