The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 14 August 2013.
US: University of California to provide open-access research
The public will soon have free access to scholarly articles authored by faculty at the University of California (UC), US, reports Smart Planet. Apart from the articles being published as usual in scholarly journals which are then available to paying subscribers, they will now also be available for free via the eScholarship platform, which is UC’s open access repository. The university says the peer review process will remain rigorous. This new policy gives faculty the freedom to reuse and modify their work, and follow a growing trend among universities opening up access to their materials.
UK: Poll says students are happier at specialist universities
UK students have rated smaller specialist institutions highest in an annual poll called The National Student Survey, reports The Independent. For overall satisfaction, the Institute of Education at the University of London and the Medway School of Pharmacy came out top with 97% each, and Brighton and Sussex Medical School at 95%. But Bath University, a larger non-specialist university, was close at 94%, which was partly attributed to its beautiful surroundings. The poll shows that overall satisfaction with higher education in the UK remains high at 86%, the same as last year.
US: Pennsylvania may provide tuition-free college education in future
Politician Brendan Boyle in Pennsylvania, US, intends to introduce legislation to study the feasibility of implementing a scheme that would give students free tuition, reports Penn Live. In return for free tuition, students would be required to pay back a percentage of their earnings after graduation for between 20 and 25 years, with the money being used to fund future students. Boyle is commissioning the study because he says that student funding in the US is “completely broken”, due to student fees outpacing inflation to the point where the system is “simply unsustainable”.
India/Africa: Indian universities competing for East African students
Indian universities are holding workshops in East African capital cities and “appointing recruiting agents and aggressively advertising opportunities on offer in their colleges”, reports the Punjab Newsline, in an attempt to retain India’s place as the “leading destination for students from the region”. Some of the Indian universities targeting students from East Africa are Manipal University, Sharda University, R.K Degree College, SRM University and Patkar College. Strategies to attract students include offering lower fees and admission requirements, and also help arranging visas. The Indian government also offers scholarships to East African students.