Higher education policy

Blame the ‘father of the Constitution’ for the mess in the US, says Alan Ryan

The current regime can’t last for ever, says Andy Westwood

Experts discuss the development and legacy of the epochal report on its golden anniversary

The Office of Fair Trading is to examine England’s universities, including how they compete for students and set fees under the £9,000 regime.

UK universities have the equivalent of £2,083 per student invested in the fossil fuel industry, a new report has claimed.

David Willetts has warned of the need to expand the number of higher education places between the end of this decade and 2035 to cope with a growing young population

If the UK were to leave the European Union, the nation’s universities would be left in even greater “ideological thrall” to the US.

Student activists have tried to occupy Vince Cable’s constituency office in protest at Liberal Democrat backing for the sale of the student loan book

Reasons for withdrawal of legal action on eve of hearing remain unclear

How does the university calculate the real cost of undergraduate education?

Report warns of ‘market failure’ but critics say it doesn’t go far enough

With interest in Ralph Miliband’s work high after the Mail’s attack, could Marxism regain academic ascendency? asks Martin McQuillan

As the 2014 REF census date approaches, Paul Jump talks to the architects of previous rounds of assessment about how it all began and their views on the research excellence framework

Gareth Williams laments the decline of higher education research since its heyday following an influential report

The dramatic decline in part-time students will continue this year, according to a report that calls for an “urgent push” to promote such study.

London Metropolitan University has agreed to end legal action against the Home Office over the revoking of its licence to recruit overseas students.

Measures to tackle illegal immigration are “discriminatory” to international students and send the message that they are not welcome in the UK.

English system left vulnerable by lack of regulatory structure, commission warns

The Russell Group has backed the University of Oxford vice-chancellor after he urged the government to allow a rise in tuition fees.

Private providers, including universities’ own offshoots, have been pinpointed as a major risk to English higher education in a new report.

The real cost of a University of Oxford education is £16,000 a year and the fees system should be better related to such an amount.

Liam Byrne has been made shadow higher education minister in a reshuffle unveiled today by Labour leader Ed Miliband.

The insider’s outsider reflects a career at the heart of the higher education sector

New government also aims to cut red tape

Minister points to ‘incremental’ removal and sounds warning over Labour fees policy

A youth mentor has defended Oxbridge against charges of racial bias in admissions, earning a standing ovation at the Conservative Party conference.

An MP close to David Willetts has admitted defeat on hopes to withdraw students from net migration figures in the near future.

Fee loans will be offered to students studying engineering and technology part time as second degrees in a bid to attract more women to the subjects.

Party needs better position on funding, says Bill Rammell

Academics and students register opposition to outlawing of overt displays of religious affiliation

Outgoing Hefce captain proud of guiding sector through choppy waters

Analysts accuse organisation of ‘misrepresenting’ figures

Critics of The Satanic Verses lost the battle but are winning the war, warns Dennis Hayes

Rectors demand more federal support from new government. Frances Mechan-Schmidt reports

Many universities are “still not focused enough on teaching” and are using £9,000 fees to subsidise research.

England has “too many” universities and some are likely to close, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry has warned.

Toni Pearce confident BIS negotiations will pay dividends for students

Minister’s call comes as Lib Dem conference votes to remove students from immigration figures

Reform must go all the way, argues Bill Rammell

Amended policy accepts £9,000 charges in short term

The UK’s first massive open online course platform will allow students to set their own targets and escape rules set by “The Man”

By Elizabeth Redden, for Inside Higher Ed

An attempt by senior Liberal Democrats to endorse £9,000 fees as official policy has failed, after members clung on to an aspiration to abolish fees

Some of the world’s most powerful graduates demonstrate the influence of UK universities

A cross-party group of MPs has launched an inquiry that will look at the black and minority ethnic community’s interaction with higher education.

Student recruitment could be jeopardised by “public paranoia” over immigration among the UK’s “xenophobic” population, vice-chancellors have said.

Vice-chancellors should take up more prominent public roles as forces for good in society, the National Union of Students president has said.

Vince Cable has predicted that Labour would not change the £9,000 fee system, while also forecasting that David Willetts would be safe in a reshuffle.

Schools can add much to training, says the head of new Sheffield Institute of Education

Opposition grows over motion to ‘retain current system of finance’

Committee points to ‘gaps in qualitative and quantitative evidence’ for Finch report recommendations

More government cash is the only way to cut student costs, argue Rudy Fichtenbaum and Hank Reichman

Response to consultation says change to company name restrictions could aid bogus institutions

A further education college offering degrees from three universities has had its licence to sponsor international students suspended.

A preference for gold open access over green is misguided and is due to multiple gaps in the evidence gathered for the Finch Report, MPs have said.

Washington’s ‘national interest’ restrictions on social science will affect bilateral projects

The policies and realities of monitoring correspondence may vary, but the ethical implications are always significant

How did David Mould end up teaching journalism in Kazakhstan’s frozen capital? He was a political pawn, he says

The Liberal Democrats are trying to push through legislation to stop the National Union of Students campaigning against them at the next general election, Labour MPs have claimed.

Visa applications from overseas students seeking to study at universities are up 4 per cent despite the government’s toughening of the visa regime.