The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 1 March 2013.
Germany
Tuition fees to be scrapped in Bavaria
Bavaria, the German länder (region) in which two of the top-three highest ranked German universities in the QS World University Rankings are based, is set to scrap tuition fees, reports University World News. Since 2006/07 each länder has had the freedom to decide whether or not to charge fees, set at €500 a semester (around US$650 in today’s money). While several chose to, most have since reversed the decisions. Bavaria’s decision means that fees will now only be charged for higher education in Lower Saxony. Be warned, however, this doesn’t mean you will pay nothing; universities still charge semester fees, with the levels set by each institution. Read full article >
UK
Oxford University accused of bias against non-white students
Admissions statistics for the University of Oxford (5th in the 2012/13 QS World University Rankings). have revealed that white applicants are seemingly far more likely to gain a place at the university than non-whites, even if they had the same grades. This has led to allegations of racism being leveled at the university. Overall, 25.7% of white applicants received an offer, compared to 17.2% of non-white students, with the difference for some subjects even more pronounced. For economics and management, the most competitive course at the university, the figures stand at 19.1% and 9.3%. This is not the first time in recent years the university has been accused of racial bias, as it was revealed that in 2009 only one British black Caribbean undergraduate gained admittance to the university, reports The Independent. Read full article >
US
Yale considers funding sex change operations through health plan
Yale is considering funding sex change – or gender reassignment – operations for students who are covered by its health plan. Staff and faculty already receive this type of coverage (since 2011), as do students at other leading US institutions, such as Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and Brown. Reportedly, interest in the procedure has been rising, reports Yale Daily News. Read full article >
UK
Sussex University students continue to protest privatization of campus services
For the past two weeks students at the UK’s Sussex University (188th in the QS rankings) have been protesting the university’s decision to put some campus services in the hands of private companies. Protestors have now occupied a second building, having occupied a conference center on the top floor of one of the university buildings since mid-February. Around 200 students are involved in the second occupation, which is of a lecture theatre in the university’s medical school. The protest has gained support from notable figures including prominent anti-establishment thinker Noam Chomsky. The students’ union, however, has distanced itself from the occupation, reports The Guardian. Read full article >
Iran
Bahá’í student expelled from Iranian university because of her religion
A student studying civil engineering at Iran’s University of Science and Technology has been expelled for practicing the Bahá’í faith – banned in Iran. Paniz Fazl-Ali was one year away from completing her degree, and was described as "impressively talented". She had left the part of her registration form on which students are required to fill in their religion blank on enrolment, but was summoned by an administrator earlier this year and told to fill it in – one of the rules of the faith is that adherents cannot deny belonging to it. On collecting test results in late February, she was given a notice of expulsion. The Bahá’í faith has been banned in Iran since 1981, reports The Guardian. Read full article >
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