The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 19 April 2013.
Ireland: The ‘graduate capital of Europe’
Ireland has the highest percentage of 30-34 year olds with a degree in the EU, Independent.ie reports. More than half of Irish people in this age group are now graduates, a rapid increase compared to 32% in 2002. The statistics, from Eurostat, also show a significant difference between men and women – 58% of Irish women aged 30-34 have degrees, compared to 44% of men. Ireland’s Higher Education Authority says there has especially been an increase in the number of those studying science and technology subjects.
Global: World’s top universities for tech innovation
The results of a global survey of innovation ‘experts’ show that US and UK universities are by far the most likely to be seen as supporting successful technology innovation – but the top ten is relatively diverse, SGE reports. MIT and Stanford take the two top spots, followed by the UK’s Cambridge and Imperial. However, also making the top ten are Israel’s Technion, Switzerland’s ETH Zurich, Singapore’s NUS, Germany’s TU Munich and Sweden’s KTH.
US: Study reveals state colleges with ‘happiest’ freshmen
Statistics from the US Department of Education show that flagship state universities tend to have the highest levels of first-year (freshman) student retention – a way of measuring of how happy students are with their experience. Topping the list of public colleges with the highest retention rates are two Californian universities – UCLA and Berkeley – followed by Maryland’s US Naval Academy, WCTV reports.
UK: Students ‘don’t trust’ universities on social media
A survey of prospective and current students in the UK found that while many are keen to engage with universities on social media, they still place more trust in traditional sources of information such as printed prospectuses. Less than one in five of those surveyed said they were influenced by universities via Twitter, and a quarter by universities on Facebook or blogs. Many complained that universities were not using these channels to provide the kind of information they actually wanted, The Guardian reports.
Global trends in students’ social media usage >
UAE: Growth in foreign university partners in Dubai
Dubai’s two ‘education business parks’ saw 80 new partners sign up in 2012, bringing the total number to 564, The PIE News reports. The Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), established in 2003 and 2007 respectively, are the world’s only higher education ‘free zones’. Foreign institutions are free to operate under their own accreditation rules, tax-free. Universities running DIAC campuses include Australia’s Wollongong and the UK’s Middlesex University.
