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| October 2005 | Volume
18, Issue 5 |
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FEATURE FROM THE ARCHIVES Methods of Document Recognition and Authentication (Jan. 2003) REGIONAL
NEWS PRACTICAL INFORMATION FROM THE ARCHIVES Asian Students Have More Opportunities at Home (May 1999)
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Regional
News
Europe Austria EU to Step in to Solve Admissions Dilemma
The Austrian ruling, which has set a new precedent for the free movement of students within the EU, opened the gates for German students to enroll at Austrian universities, especially in professional fields such as medicine, veterinary science, and dentistry — courses for which Germany has a quota system. According to the Austrian news agency APA, Vienna University had in August 610 remaining medical school places for which more than 1,500 applications were received, 1,200 of them from German nationals. As an emergency measure the Austrian parliament has taken the position of allowing a limit on the number of study places (via entrance examinations or objective selection procedures during the course of study) in the disciplines of medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, pharmacy, biology, psychology, business and communication studies. The other 160 programs offered at Austrian institutions of higher education will not have these limitations. The country is still trying to find a long-term solution for the admission of international students. The European Commission has stated that it will help Austria find a “non-discriminating solution through its working group that will consist of representatives from Austria, the European Commission and other concerned countries. — EurActiv Finland Ministry Calls for Tuition Fees for Non-EU Students The aim of the fees would be to improve the quality of teaching in foreign languages, and to cover part of the costs of teaching non-Finns. The upper limit of the fees increased from the previously proposed US$11,400 because some fields, such as dentistry, medicine and the arts, require more individualized instruction. It is a controversial move, however, since Finland has in the past provided free education for all. In an effort to keep foreign talent in the country after graduation, students would be allowed to deduct some of their tuition fees from future income taxes. The proposed plan would take effect in August 2007. — Helsingin Sanomat Germany Unique Global MBA Program Launched The intensive, 15-month program will be designed for working professionals. It will begin in June with 10 students from each campus. Sixty percent of the coursework for the 33-credit program will be completed online. The rest will be delivered on-site, requiring students to travel to each country. — Wisconsin Business News Source Elite Funding Finally Approved — Deutsche Welle University Graduates Older than Ever; Few Graduate from New Short Program
— Germany Information Center Iceland Top Marks for Access to Education — BBC News Italy Mandatory Schooling Extended
In the vocational stream, students can leave school after completing courses for the diploma di qualifica after three years, or for a more advanced four-year diploma. Students wishing to continue with tertiary studies at a technical or academic institution can complete a fifth year of study. — Italian Ministry of Education The Netherlands Dutch Schools Step Up Marketing
According to the Nuffic news release, the Netherlands is expecting approximately 40,000 foreign students for the coming academic year. The number of Netherlands Education Support Offices also is on the increase. Existing offices are in Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, with offices due to open in India, Thailand, Vietnam and Latin America. — Nuffic news release Northern Ireland 16 Colleges to Merge
— BBC News Poland New Higher Education Act Introduces Bologna Degrees The three distinct divisions are in line with the structural norms of the Bologna Process: undergraduate and engineering studies, master’s degree studies and doctoral studies. The new structure will be phased in and, as with most other countries making structural reforms, the new first and second degrees will be offered in parallel with the former five-year program. — University of Bialystok Slovakia Private University Fails in Accreditation Bid
According to information provided by the Education Ministry, 26 companies and associations have so far applied for state approval to establish a private institution of higher education. The Accreditation Commission disapproved of seven applications and submitted a favorable opinion on four projects, which subsequently were approved by the Cabinet. The ministers failed to agree on three other applications. Seven applicants voluntarily withdrew their requests. There currently are just three state-approved private higher education institutions in the Slovak Republic. — Slovensko Spain EISE Tops Economist Rankings; 2 Top U.S. Schools Boycott
The news comes with a caveat, however: Harvard Business School and the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania were left out of the rankings because they refused to disclose information requested by the British magazine for the rankings exercise. The list is based on a number of criteria, but it relies heavily on student assessments of their educational experience. Both Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania refused to provide EIU with access to student records, preventing it from contacting alumni from the two business schools. With an increasing number of publications performing such business school rankings, results seem at times almost arbitrary due to the different criteria taken to assess schools. IESE topped EIU’s list because it scored well in two categories: opening new career opportunities, and the starting salaries of its new graduates (an average of US$142,000 — higher than any U.S. school). The Wall Street Journal recently undertook a similar ranking exercise, which relied on the perceptions of on-campus corporate recruiters. The Journal’s rankings had Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business ranked first, and had IESE ranked 19 th. — The Economist United Kingdom Joint Venture Creates International College Kaplan International College provides academic preparation programs designed specifically for the needs of international students in the United Kingdom. The University of Sheffield is one of the United Kingdom’s leading and largest universities, with more than 24,000 students from 117 countries. — The Guardian Reform Plan Pilots Use of SAT in Admissions
The Department for Education and Skills, in outlining its proposals, said the new system will help universities distinguish the best students — they won’t have to rely on predicted A-level results. The SAT results from the trial run will not be used for admissions; rather, they will be used to gauge their utility in predicting ability. One major argument for the SAT test is that pupils from poorer families tend to suffer most under the current system because teachers often underestimate their grades. Two other proposals would further overhaul the current system. Under the first, students would not submit formal university applications until they receive their A-level results. It is hoped the most-qualified students would secure the best spots, and not just on a first-come, first-serve basis. The second would offer some university places based on predicted grades, while other spots would be reserved for those students who performed better than predicted. The proposals were welcomed in the higher education sector, but some university leaders have reservations, suggesting that the reforms would not leave enough time to consider applications between the distribution of A-level results and the start of the academic year. — The Daily Telegraph Newspaper University Signs Deal with Italian Business School Buckingham has agreed to sign its name to degrees awarded by the ESE, a school that has appeared in the “Whistleblower” column of The Times Higher Education Supplement on several occasions for such problems as failure to pay its staff. The Times reports that Buckingham insists it has carried out extensive due diligence tests and is confident it will work well with ESE. The deal is projected to bring Buckingham US$878,000 by 2008 and double the number of students it graduates from 700 to 1,400. ESE was formed by former Italian pop star and businessman Elios d’Anna and his brother, Stephano. Within six years it had 2,500 students on 12 campuses in Italy, Paris, London and New York. ESE has been in the news several times, going to court for failing to pay its staff, as well as over issues involving its Italian students postponing their military service. — The Times Higher Education Supplement ‘At Risk’ International Students May Pay Big for Visa
The proposal states that students from “high-risk” countries, where the visa system has been abused, pay a “bond” that would be forfeited if they disappeared after entering the UK. The bond is expected to be set as a full year’s tuition, or up to 7,000 pounds. The Council for International Education and the Association of Colleges have attacked the proposals saying they could see “no advantages whatsoever.” They argue that legitimate students will not have access to these sorts of funds. Furthermore, for those who cannot afford the bonds, UKCOSA foresees a black-market of bonds and credentials, thereby benefiting those that cheat the system further. In related news, universities are now being asked to inform the Home Office when international students fail to take up a place at university after they have been granted a visa to study in the UK. The move comes as part of a three-month pilot program to crack down on people gaining entry to the UK via a student visa after reports in early September revealed that 17,000 non-EU students failed to show up for classes after accepting an offer last year. This figure has been dismissed by the Home Office, which says that foreign students often get multiple offers, and not showing up at one university may mean they have gone somewhere else or decided not to come at all. A figure closer to 5,000 has also been quoted in the press in recent weeks. The Home Office would eventually aim to make the scheme compulsory for all universities. — The Times Higher Education Supplement — Guardian Schools Granted University Status
Meanwhile, University College London (UCL) announced at the end of September that it had been granted degree-awarding powers. UCL is the largest constituent college of the University of London, which traditionally awards degrees on behalf of its member colleges. The move calls into question the future of the federal university after the London School of Economics and King’s College London announced recently that they are seeking degree-awarding powers and Imperial has, like UCL, been granted them. The University of London has a membership of 19 colleges, some of which have of late expressed their displeasure over the large subscription they pay the central university. If either UCL or Imperial decide to use their degree-awarding power they would have to rescind their membership of the University of London and would no longer be able to use the brand name. — The Times Higher Education Supplement — The Guardian — The Times Higher Education Supplement
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An EU working group looking into the mobility of students will be set up to investigate fears that upwards of 60,000 German students will flood the university system in Austria. The European Court of Justice ruled in July that the Austrian university system has been discriminating against non-Austrian students by only admitting them if they could prove that they had also qualified for a corresponding place in their home country (see July/August issue of 
