World policy

The University of South Australia’s merger with its prestigious Adelaide neighbour may be off, but the fact that it was even considered illustrates how much can change in 30 years, says Adam Graycar

Boosts to numbers of poor and black students entering university overseen by Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad could unravel if right-wing populist becomes president, writes Stephanie Reist

The relaxation of the research excellence framework’s submission rules could see research-intensive universities clustered on near-maximum scores, warms Dominic Dean

A landmark analysis of several government data sets will help policymakers make more effective interventions, says Roger Smyth

The research excellence framework’s reliance on hasty peer review by generalists limits sample size and accuracy, three academics argue

For most young Australians, a bachelor’s degree remains a wise investment, says Andrew Norton

The mooted merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia would cast a long shadow over the city’s other major university, says Gavin Moodie

A move to combat India’s love affair with predatory journals is an encouraging sign – even if it took a newspaper exposé to prompt it, says Pushkar

A failure to treat staff fairly and consistently impedes academic standards and hurts students, says Sheikh Nahid Neazy

Australian universities are nervous about how governments, students and their own academics will react to new legal curbs on ‘foreign influence’, says Dean Forbes

Soul-searching is required by institutions if they want to survive the alarming decline in student numbers that will leave many classrooms empty, says Jayden Kim

Discussions with students about how marijuana can affect studies and health and talks about its place on campus are needed before the drug becomes legal in Canada, say Alexandra Burnett, Rodney A. Clifton and Gabor Csepregi

India’s downsized Institutes of Eminence programme has dashed the hopes of those keen to see an improvement in higher education quality, says Pushkar

Focusing on the mature student market can offer short-term relief from market pressure, but it is not a sustainable approach, says Nora Ann Colton

Pakistani lecturers and students tend to be similar in age, which makes romances inevitable. Universities must do more to raise awareness of the potential fallout of such relationships, say Abur Rehman Cheema and Mehvish Riaz

The EU’s proposal for its next research and innovation funding framework focuses too narrowly on technology, say Gabi Lombardo and Jon Deer

The public sector has not expanded quickly enough to meet the demand for college degrees in India

Some commentators have urged the UK to replicate German universities of applied science. It’s not that simple, says Neil Shirtcliffe

Appealing to students and their families made electoral sense for the Labour Party, but its promises have saddled it with a lot of low-value spending, says Roger Smyth

If the Australian government wants to link university funding to student satisfaction, it must ensure that scores reflect more than students’ gender, wealth or ease of passage, says Julie Hare

Concerns about whether internationalisation and English usage has gone too far should be addressed from the perspective of quality assurance, says Michèle Wera

Widely varying tuition fees and financial aid programmes prevent students from making fully informed decisions, and policymakers from understanding the effects of interventions, say Ross Finnie, Richard Mueller and Arthur Sweetman

The initial botched attempt to draw up a shortlist of institutions eligible for extra funding does not augur well, writes Pushkar

For all the criticism it gets, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank remains a cheap and efficient selection system that plausibly links entry criteria to academic outcomes, says Andrew Norton

With the consultation now closed, Philip Augar’s review of English post-18 education must begin the hard work of devising substantial but cost-effective proposals, says Andy Westwood 

The new remit for the Higher Education Standards Panel flags up various regulatory issues that the minister wants to see addressed, says Gavin Moodie

Whichever parties form the new Italian government, higher education and research are unlikely to be priorities, says Davide Donina

Politicians’ disparagement of historian’s research signals that alternative interpretations of the city state’s past will not be tolerated, says Linda Lim

Ten years into the programme, German universities remain focused on traditional markers of success, say Andreas Knie and Dagmar Simon

History shows that the Belt and Road initiative will be successful only if it boosts human capital, as well as physical infrastructure, says Alan Ruby

Rigid, top-down tie-ups will do nothing to foster quality or European identity, says Jan Palmowski

Following individuals’ paths in and out of different institutions shows that most students eventually graduate, say Ross Finnie, Richard E. Mueller and Arthur Sweetman

New South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s first budget confirmed funding for hundreds of thousands of students to be exempted from tuition fees, writes Martin Hall 

The Republic of Ireland’s embrace of differentiated national missions for institutions offers international lessons, says Ellen Hazelkorn

New Zealand is reaping many benefits from reducing the cost of a PhD for international students a decade ago, says Brett Berquist

Fears that the arrival of foreign universities could decimate native provision have apparently been set aside by ministers, writes Martin Surya Mulyadi  

Funding rises for fundamental science with be welcomed even if they fall short of some scholars’ expectations, says Creso Sá

Canadian universities’ recruitment of teachers must be done purely on academic merit, say Rodney Clifton and Alexandra Burnett 

Analysis of government data reveals that Australian universities’ surpluses have effectively halved over the past six years, says Conor King

The former Soviet state’s National Academy of Sciences is too focused on its own survival to improve its research performance, says Ararat Osipian

But sophisticated New Zealand analysis also belies assumption that highly educated international students are most likely to find local employment, says Roger Smyth

Canadian scientists’ impressive campaign for increased basic science funding risks splintering as victory looms, says Jim Woodgett

Pakistani journals lack the professionalism and expertise to support a thriving knowledge economy, say Abdur Rehman Cheema and Mehvish Riaz

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s methodology is of incredibly low quality, says Nick Hillman

The uncapped system had many benefits but its cost was ultimately too high for politicians to bear, writes Andrew Norton

Vice-chancellors’ salaries in Australia are the highest in the anglophone world, and are attracting sharp criticism, says Gavin Moodie

Controversy in Canada over support for blue-skies research would diminish if more researchers took Pasteur’s approach, says Creso Sá

Focus on rankings risks neglecting the genuine quality improvements that could propel Indian institutions into the global league, says Amarnath Bose

Australia’s new impact assessment exercise recognises cultural, social and environmental impacts, but there is a danger that economic impact will override everything, says David Lloyd

A single, comprehensive policy and funding infrastructure for UK tertiary education would empower learners and encourage innovation, say Paul Woodgates and Mike Boxall

The apparent defeat of Australia’s latest attempt at higher education funding reform prolongs the agony for both universities and ministers, says Conor King

Trump has little in the way of strategy on higher education, but the sector could still suffer collateral damage in the president’s desperate search for a legislative win, says John Aubrey Douglass

The populist New Zealand First party’s anointing of Jacinda Ardern as prime minister will have big consequences for tertiary education, says Roger Smyth

Contrary to the cultural meme, Canadian graduates in all subjects earn far more, on average, than coffee shop workers, say Ross Finnie, Richard Mueller and Arthur Sweetman

The research excellence framework’s panels will look at factors including adventurousness, disciplinary diversity and methodological clarity, predicts Martin Willis

Teaching students to attribute their failures to factors within their control can lead to big gains, say Rodney Clifton, Gabor Csepregi and Masha Krylova

Universities must support those responsible for the impact case studies that will carry so much weight in the next research excellence framework, says Jonathan Grant

PSL’s high entry position in the THE World University Rankings reflects one of the ambitions of France’s programme of mergers, say John Ludden, Philippe Le Prestre and Jean-Marc Rapp

The ending of Murdoch University’s agreement with its staff over employment conditions could herald a rougher ride for university staff, says Gavin Moodie 

A national postgraduate admissions system would allow universities to improve planning, enhance student satisfaction and widen participation, says Michelle Morgan