The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 4 September 2013.
US: Online course based on post-apocalypse drama
A US television company, AMC, is forming a partnership with the University of California, Irvine, to produce an online course based on the TV show The Walking Dead, reports the BBC. It will be launched next month and is expected to be very popular. The show will provide a platform from which to study questions such as the "science behind decay" or “what can we learn from past epidemics?” The “edutainment” is free and does not provide any credits toward a degree. Associate dean of distance learning at the university, Melissa Loble, said: "The lessons will be academically rigorous and rich and still have connections to the show."
India: Depreciating rupee affecting study abroad
Indian students wanting a world class overseas education, especially in the US and UK, are being affected by the depreciation of the rupee, reports University World News. The rupee has depreciated 20% this year against the US dollar, forcing students to defer their start date, look for cheaper options, or take out extra loans. One potential student hoping to study in the UK, Malika Ghosh, requested a deferment in the hope that the currency will stabilize by next term. Ghosh had already secured admission, so did not have the option to look for a cheaper course elsewhere. She said: “If I had applied to other countries such as Germany or France or Singapore earlier, the increase in costs would not have hit me so hard.”
Canada: Ongoing strikes costing universities money
Canadian universities are enrolling less international students this year because of striking foreign service workers at Canadian embassies worldwide, reports CBC News. The resultant delay in visa processing has meant that potential overseas students are unable to start class in time. The director of international education at St Clair College in Windsor, Peter Bondy, said that international applications are up by 10% overall and up by 25% from China, but 40% are expected to not get a visa in time. He said: "Individually, international students contribute $10,000 to the economy — that's beyond tuition."
South Africa: Demand for places exceeds supply
The major universities in South Africa do not have enough spaces to meet demand, reports Independent Online News. Wits University in Gauteng has received 34,000 first-year applications for its 5,500 spaces; the University of Pretoria has received over 30,000 applications for its 16,500 spaces, and the University of Johannesburg has received 40,000 applications for 10,000 spaces. The Central Application Office (CAO) that processes applications for a number of universities has also reported a similar situation. Construction on two new universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga will begin this month.