HE News Brief 19.11.2012

The key HE news items for the week are :

Goldman Sach's Foray Into Highered

Council for the Defence of British Unis

Higher Education For Foreigners

6 Levers to Enhance Quality in HEEducation Management Corp. was already a swiftly growing player in the lucrative world of for-profit higher education, with annual revenues topping $1 billion, but it had its sights set on industry domination. So, five years ago, the company agreed to sell its portfolio of more than 70 colleges to a trio of investment partnerships for $3.4 billion, securing the needed capital for an aggressive national expansion. One of the new partners brought an outsized reputation for market savvy, deep pockets and a relentless pursuit of profits -- the Wall Street goliath, Goldman Sachs.

Full Story: Huffington Post

Before the Council for the Defence of British Universities CDBU, there was no organisation solely for the purpose of defending academic values and the institutional arrangements best suited to fostering them. The problem is not that academic values are obsolete: in an increasingly complex world, they are as valid and important as ever. But after decades of subordinating them to other priorities, it can no longer be taken for granted that every educated person understands the enormous value to society as a whole of maintaining places devoted primarily to the pursuit of understanding and to the transmission of that pursuit to the next generation.

Full Story: The Telegraph UK

There's a new destination for American students: China, where many are looking to sharpen their Mandarin skills, a language many started learning before enrolling in college. And now, instead of dedicating one semester or a year to being abroad, a growing number of international students is applying for their undergraduate and graduate degrees at Chinese institutions. Chinese has been described as the language of the future, and perhaps now Chinese universities are going to be seen as the future of higher education.

Full Story:International Business Times

Indian Planning Commission-FICCI-E&Y report identifies six levers to enhance quality of Indian Higher Education Institutes

Merit-based student financingInternationalization of educationEnabling a research environmentHigh quality facultyImproved technology for education deliveryEmployabilityFull Story: