Top Stories
INDIA
Visa, immigration changes in US, Canada are main cause
Shuriah Niazi
The number of Indian students pursuing higher studies abroad has declined for the first time in three years, according to Indian government data, pointing to significant shifts in expectations, global opportunities, and constraints that are changing the pattern of overseas study among Indian students.
INDIA-AUSTRALIA
Shuriah Niazi
AFRICA-MIDDLE EAST
Clemence Manyukwe
GLOBAL
Nathan M Greenfield
News
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
A new survey shows that employer confidence in higher education in the United States is relatively high among both Democrats and Republicans – in sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s narrative and recent polls targeting the general population which suggest that public trust in university education is waning.
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
Wagdy Sawahel
DENMARK-EUROPE
Jan Petter Myklebust
MALAYSIA
Kalinga Seneviratne
NETHERLANDS
Jan Petter Myklebust
Strikes calling for more investment in Dutch universities took place this week in Amsterdam, despite indications that the new coalition government may be planning to reverse over €1 million (US$1.17 million) in budget cuts and other measures proposed for higher education by the previous government.
NEPAL
Binod Ghimire
Nepal’s non-partisan interim government, formed following September’s short, violent Gen Z movement, which led to the resignation of the country’s then prime minister KP Sharma Oli, is taking new measures to limit political interference in higher education, often cited as affecting academic quality.
DENMARK
Jan Petter Myklebust
The Danish government has received a mixed response to its announcement that it will allocate DKK68 million (US$10.6 million) to universities for the purpose of sharpening students’ European language skills and equipping them for regional cooperation in a new world order.
ACU Congress 2025
GLOBAL
Brendan O’Malley
Universities must be not only knowledge producers but also anchors of stability and innovation and knowledge diplomats strengthening democracy, collaborating for equity, peace and progress, and adapting their curriculum to a world of constant change, Association of Commonwealth Universities’ members were told at the ACU Congress 2025.
AFRICA
Maina Waruru
The higher education system in Africa has been guilty of producing corrupt future leaders who have failed the continent, denying millions of people, including the youth, hopes for a better future, while at the same time failing to fight for good governance, experts say.
GLOBAL
Brendan O’Malley
To adapt to pressure to improve employability, in addition to offering degrees, universities should focus on developing work and soft skills capabilities within degree pathways and make them easily identifiable through micro-credentials co-designed with employers and students, the Association of Commonwealth Universities’ Congress was told.
Science Journalism
AFRICA
UWN reporter
Two University World News journalists were honoured at the Africa Science Journalism Awards during the World Conference of Science Journalists, hosted in Tshwane, South Africa from 1-5 December and themed ‘Science journalism and social justice – Journalism that builds understanding and resilience’.
Edtech, AI and Higher Education
GLOBAL
Clare Sharkey
While digitalisation of higher education institutions alone cannot guarantee the fulfilment of the right to science, strengthening digital maturity is becoming central to higher education’s mission to expand access to knowledge and ensure that the benefits of scientific progress are broadly shared.
UNITED KINGDOM
Dorothy Lepkowska
Universities in the United Kingdom are increasingly using generative AI to ease the heavy workload of the national research assessment exercise, a new study shows. But the technology’s quiet adoption for research assessment has sparked calls for national oversight to ensure its ethical, transparent and secure use.
GLOBAL
Najwa Norodien-Fataar
Higher education institutions face a choice between allowing technological changes and AI to perpetuate existing inequities or using this moment to create systems that expand human potential. The future of universities depends on their capacity to design for equity, inclusion and intellectual flourishing.
World Blog
GLOBAL
Ignacio Sánchez
We need to promote different levels of support for the arts and humanities, including an institutional culture that recognises the intrinsic value of critical thinking, intellectual freedom and creativity, as well as adequate support for arts and humanities programmes, centres, journals and projects.
Internationalisation and Rankings in Gulf States
GULF STATES
Tarek Abd Elgalil
Across the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – all of which are seeing rapid transformation in their higher education systems – there is a different emphasis on global university rankings as a driver of higher education internationalisation and reform.
SDGs
GLOBAL
Stig Arne Skjerven and Susanna Karakhanyan
Work on establishing global guidelines for quality assurance, including transnational education, is ongoing, but there are some challenges, including lack of agreement on what constitutes quality education, and the rapid growth in the number of entities carrying out accreditation beyond national borders.
ETHIOPIA
Wondwosen Tamrat
KENYA
Wilson Odhiambo
KENYA
Scovian Lillian
Top Stories from Last Week
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
The transfer of 12 international scholarship programmes from the all-but-defunct United States Department of Education to the Department of State is set to increase ideological control over what disciplinary areas receive funding, affecting Americans studying outside the US and international scholars entering the US.
AFRICA
Desmond Thompson
GLOBAL
Albert Munoz, Mercedez Hinchcliff, Jonathon Mackay and Ann Rogerson
ASIA
Looi Chee Kit and Wong Lung Hsiang
GLOBAL
Sjur Bergan
The challenge of developing and recognising micro-credentials cannot be met by providers and their organisations alone. Public authorities must accept an overarching responsibility for micro-credentials as part of their responsibility for education systems, a responsibility that protects serious providers and challenges the less serious.
AFRICA-EUROPE
Nic Mitchell
Collaboration between African and European universities may be moving in the right direction – but barriers to mobility for African academics and students continue to hold back equal cooperation between the two continents, according to a higher education leader in Africa.
GLOBAL
James Yoonil Auh
In a world where the concept of development has never been a neutral or purely humanitarian enterprise, universities can do more than supply technical expertise. They can serve as the critical conscience of development, challenging orthodoxies, restoring knowledge sovereignty and co-creating locally grounded solutions.
AFRICA-GLOBAL
Desmond Thompson
The World Conference of Science Journalists opened in Pretoria, South Africa, earlier this week, marking a significant shift for the profession. It is the first time in the event’s 33-year history that the flagship gathering has taken place on African soil.