Newsbites

Tough new visa regulations are leading international students to give up on Britain as a place to study, the Times Higher Education (THE) has reported. Dominic Scott, chief executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs, said that in the first few weeks of the new points-based system for visa applications, refusal rates soared to more than 60 per cent. Scott was speaking at the Westminster Education Forum seminar in London. THE are joint authors with QS of the World University Rankings.

A short fall of national funding in education is high on the agenda when international education stakeholders meet in Paris next week for the 2009 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. Attendees of the conference will discuss key items affecting international education such as the diversity of education providers and student mobility. They will also make recommendations on how higher education can better meet the changing labour market needs and the growing demands of society. The conference will take place from 5 to 8 July.

A top US university will partner with Singapore’s fourth public university when it opens in 2011, the Singapore government has announced. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which ranked ninth in the 2008 Times Higher – QS World University Rankings, will play a lead role in developing the curriculum. The new research-intensive Singapore University will enrol 4,000 undergraduate students and focus mainly on the sciences, engineering, information systems and architecture. A Chinese partner for the university will be announced later this year.

Attracting international students is high on the agenda for the Canadian government. Earlier this year, the government announced plans to increase the number of international students studying at Canadian universities after it recognised the integral role international students play as a source of revenue for universities. Canada is one of the ten most popular student destinations for international students studying abroad. Results from the 2008 THE – QS World University Rankings showed there are 20 Canadian universities in the top 400 in the world.
Gazette

Recycle, reuse, save energy – we’re all being encouraged to do whatever we can to help the environment. Every little bit of green activity helps and so too will research undertaken at Nanyang Technological University's Energy Research Institute. The new centre in Singapore will act as a think-tank for scientists, to assemble and exchange ideas. It will focus on the study of fuel cells, wind and tidal energy, as well as energy efficiency and smart buildings. If green’s your colour, why not study abroad in Singapore?

Watch out boys – the girls are giving you a run for your money. It seems women are “trouncing” men in British Higher Education, according to research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi). The new study shows that the females amongst us are more likely to go to university, do far better once they get there and win higher- quality jobs as a result. More than 49% of women go to university in the UK compared with just 37.8% of males.
Times Online

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace – everyone’s part of the world of social networking. But if parents are telling you off for spending too much time on Facebook, and employers are barring your access – just say it’s research for your assignment. You’d be telling the truth if you enrolled in an MA in Social Media at Birmingham City University. Meanwhile, join the Top Universities Facebook group and keep up to date with news and events in the international education world.

If you’re packing your bags for a Gap year abroad – why not throw some books into the mix. The Global Campaign for Education highlights the statistics of those in the world who can’t read: 75 million children and 774 million adults. So if you’re heading to Africa on your travels – why not see if you can help out. Take part in The Big Read. Leave your cell phone behind for a day and use the hours to read to students. It’ll enrich their lives… and yours!

A media report by the BBC shows that students are calling for the abolition of tuition fees and their replacement with a graduate tax. At the moment, students in England and Northern Ireland are liable for charges of up to £3,225 a year says the BBC and universities are lobbying for an increase. The National Union of Students (NUS) has opposed paying for university but says graduates should pay a proportion of their income into a trust over 20 years once they leave university.

Finding resources for your university assignments just got easier. The first ever World Digital Library has been launched in Paris by UNESCO and 32 partner institutions. The site features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives all around the world including Turkish calligraphy collections, the famous 13th centre ‘Devil’s Bible’ from the National Library of Sweden and Arabic scientific manuscripts from Egypt. The World Digital Library (WDL) functions in seven languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

When it comes to recruiting international students, the UK has major competition from downunder, a report shows. Australia is a direct competitor to Britain in the recruitment of full-fee paying international students seeking to study full-degrees in English, alongside the US (which dominates the market) and Canada. But the UK still has the upper hand. The report pronounces internationalisation of higher education in Britain a success but warns the UK must be aware of rising competitors and focus on collaborative approaches with continental neighbours.