The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 6 August 2013.
UK: Fraudulent student loan applications cost taxpayers over £6.5m
Criminal gangs received more than £6.5m (US$10m) for fraudulent student loan applications in the UK last year, reports the BBC. This is despite new systems being installed by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to detect bogus applications. Some 2,450 applications were identified as being suspicious, and in 875 cases payments were made before alerts had been raised.
US: Proposals for rewriting the Higher Education Act submitted
The US House of Representatives education committee has received a flood of recommendations after requesting advice on the rewriting of the Higher Education Act, reports Inside Higher Ed. Proposals include tracking students’ data throughout their education, maintaining and expanding the Pell Grant Program (financial aid for low income students), and variable student loans dependent on the course studied.
UK: Hacker who targeted Oxford and Cambridge has appeal dismissed
A computer hacker who was jailed for two years in May has had his appeal dismissed, reports Cambridge News. Lewys Martin had targeted Oxford and Cambridge Universities between March 2011 and February 2012, causing two weeks disruption at Cambridge, and slowing down Oxford’s website to the extent that it became unusable. One of the judges involved in the appeal, Lord Justice Leveson, said the damage caused by hackers “cannot be understated”.
Australia: Almost half of teaching graduates leave work within five years
Monash University research has found that almost 50% of teachers leave their jobs within five years of graduating, reports The Guardian. These resignation rates are consistent with UK and US research. The research by Dr Philip Riley at Monash University points to “unsupportive staffrooms, overwhelming workloads, and employers’ preference for short-term contracts” as the main reasons for the exodus.