Higher education policy

Academics in Saudi Arabia have been urged in an open letter signed by 18 Nobel Prize winners to condemn the public flogging of blogger Raif Badawi

A student at the University of Kent has been named as the Green Party’s spokesman for higher and further education

The University of Bedfordshire has become the second higher education institution in the UK to commit to not investing in the fossil fuel industry

The UK is ranked fifth among the world’s most developed nations for the number of young people with higher education, after rapid progress since 2000

Labour leader also pledges to say more on HE policy ‘by time of manifesto’

Science and universities minister says more must be done on issue

Theresa May criticised after Home Office proposes new rules for overseas cohort

Lawyer says government condemns terror attack on Charlie Hebdo but legislation could have a ‘chilling effect’ on campus debate

Freedom of speech has become a “sexual fetish” in the West in light of the Charlie Hebdo terror atrocity, according to academic and writer Will Self

Government plans to tackle “extremism” will have a “seriously inhibiting effect on bona fide academic debate in universities”, MPs and peers warn

The University of Huddersfield vice-chancellor Bob Cryan has defended the Duke of York, its patron, in the face of “ridiculous” sex allegations

David Cameron and George Osborne have trumpeted universities’ involvement in plans to boost the economy of the North West

The counter-terrorism bill will co-opt academics into the ‘securocrat’ and chill debate on campus - it must be fought, says Martin Hall

Plan to force overseas students to leave the UK after graduation appears to have been blocked by George Osborne

Raising tuition fees to £9,000 has not helped drive improvements in teaching despite the government’s insistence it would improve standards

James Dyson has become the latest to criticise plans mooted by home secretary Theresa May’s to send overseas graduates home after their course

The universities minister offered no guarantees in the review of the agencies

Alan Ryan is dismayed to see that the US is still bedevilled by lethal racism

Imagine having the power to direct higher education leaders, scholars or policymakers to take - and stick to - a new approach in 2015

Award-winning writer and scholar Marina Warner and Warwick vice-chancellor Nigel Thrift are among those recognised in the New Year Honours

David Willetts has criticised “mean-spirited” plans by his Tory colleague Theresa May to put further restrictions on overseas students

Theresa May is reported to be drawing up plans to send all overseas students back home once they finish their courses.

Nicholas Boyle, the author of 2014: How to Survive the Next World Crisis, reflects on the predictions he made about the past 12 months

Union claims that conflict of interest means leader of a government body formed to help students caught up in a visa crackdown must go

Coalition partner’s fees ‘betrayal’ could bring 2015 poll shifts in student-heavy constituencies. The campus political landscape assessed

Chair of PAC tells civil servant he is ‘failing’ to account for public money and says situation is ‘nothing short of a scandal’

Cherie Blair has been appointed a visiting professor of law at a Catholic university

Business secretary Vince Cable has called for an increase in funding for science in a speech at the Royal Academy of Engineering

Alfred Morris argues that alternative providers, criticised by the National Audit Office, aren’t the villains they’re made out to be.

Uncertainty over how many students will apply for the loans and how much the scheme will cost

Despite the introduction of postgraduate loans, the government’s education funding aims remain a puzzle, says Nigel Carrington

One day after a Senate defeat, the government renews efforts to pass controversial package of changes

Emeritus professor warns over growth of higher education courses that veer towards the ‘mundane’

Criticism of postgraduate loans scheme smacks of the adage: ‘never let a good deed go unpunished’, writes Andrew Wathey

By Elizabeth Redden, for Inside Higher Ed

George Osborne’s postgraduate loans plan would mean borrowers having upwards of 50 per cent of their salary deducted when they repay.

University leaders and lecturers fear for freedom of speech under proposed anti-extremism legislation

Hepi report predicts that the student vote could swing the advantage to Labour at the general election

Watchdog names those with questions over public loan access and high dropout rates

Loans of up to £10,000 to be available for master’s students under the age of 30

The government has awarded more than £140 million to develop a new Education and Cultural Quarter in London at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Dropout rates at nine alternative higher education providers were higher than 20 per cent in 2012-13, the National Audit Office has revealed

A group of MPs has called on the government to ensure 3 per cent of GDP is invested in research and development by 2020 or risk the UK falling behind

The student vote could swing the advantage to Labour in about 10 seats at the next election and “hold the keys to power” in a close fight

Dame Julia Goodfellow will become the first ever woman to lead Universities UK, after being named its next president.

The view of the Liberal Democrat business secretary is in stark contrast to the Conservatives’ pledge to make £7 billion of tax cuts

Peter Mandler, Royal Historical Society president, to speak on post-war ‘escalator’ in university access

Jim O’Neill on how institutions outside London can do more to retain graduates and create jobs with government help

A surprising graduation talk on climate change causes Sally Feldman to question her biases

The Autumn Statement is likely to unveil a new loans system amid concerns over funding and who will have access to the scheme

George Osborne wants institutions to spur growth outside London, but not everyone thinks campuses can and should take on such a role

Paul Wellings and Toni Pearce consider the impact of higher fees

A former Labour education secretary has warned his party not to reduce tuition fees to £6,000

The government will have the power to order universities to ban ‘extremist’ speakers from their campuses, under a new bill

English higher education regulation is “no longer fit for purpose” and there needs to be “a strong regulator to protect students” paying higher fees.

Liam Byrne has accused the government of mixing up its figures in its plan to fund extra student places when number controls are scrapped.

Grammar schooling is “not linked to any significant advantage” in getting a degree or graduating from an “elite” institution, new research suggests

Degree courses at further education colleges have the potential to ‘change lives, not society’, argues scholar

Financial modelling likely to include cuts to research budget although student support most ‘vulnerable’ after 2015

Massimo Mazzotti on the legacy of the 1964 movement