The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 18 April 2013.
France: Reforms aim to attract international students
Geneviève Fioraso, France’s minister for higher education, has unveiled a package of reforms intended to encourage international students to study at French universities, reports France 24. Outstanding students from developing countries are particularly being targeted by the measures. The proposals include introducing student visas that don’t have to be renewed every year, creating centers dedicated to helping students with the infamous French paperwork and making affordable student housing available in Paris (the world's number one student city, according to QS Best Student Cities). France’s position as a leading destination for international students is under threat, warned Fioraso, pointing to reforms being made in other countries in order to encourage international study.
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US: 5,000 extra visas for international science and technology graduates
A draft bill by a cross-party group of US senators has proposed that 5,000 extra visas should be offered to international students who have studied a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subject at an advanced level at a US university. The overall bill proposes a massive reform of the US’s immigration policy, with the caps on high-skilled visas being raised from 65,000 to 110,000, and the additional cap of 20,000 international STEM graduates being raised to 25,000. The bill includes various safety mechanisms to prevent single firms from being overly reliant on international workers over Americans, reports The Pie News. A similar bill is due to be presented in the House of Representatives (the lower house of Congress) soon. Both will be subject to debate from the respective houses.
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Australia/India: Australia remains popular with Indian students
A survey conducted by the Lowy Institute for International Policy and the Australia India Institute has found that Indian students still largely feel Australia is a good place to study, despite a series of highly-publicized attacks on students from India in 2009 and 2010. However, while 75% of the 1,233 Indian respondents studying in Australia feel that the country is a good place to study, 62% remain concerned about student safety, and 61% believe that the attacks were due to racist attitudes. Despite this, 62% believe that Australia is a good place to live and 59% believe it is a good place to find work. Bob Carr, Australia’s foreign minister, welcomed the findings.
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US: Hampshire College student lives in tiny house in middle of campus
A student at Hampshire College has eschewed traditional student dormitories, and has been living in a tiny house in the middle of the university’s campus. She’s not, however, decided she’s a gnome, but is living there in order to help her with her thesis on alternative housing. Nara Williams is a final year student whose thesis, ‘Dwelling’, profiles families who live in non-traditional housing. In order to complete her thesis, which sprang from her interest in sustainable living and a desire to get a mortgage straight after university, she decided that she needed to experience alternative living herself. Reportedly, she says that it only took two days to get used to living in the 130 square foot cabin. The house has been loaned to Williams by the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, reports The Huffington Post.
Hong Kong: HKUST launches Asia’s first MOOC
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), the number one university in the 2012 QS University Rankings: Asia, has launched a MOOC (massive open online course); the first to be offered by a university in Asia. The free course, called ‘Science, Technology and Society in China’ is offered through the US-based Coursera platform, and has been put together by Dr Naubahar Sharif. Around 17,000 students registered for the three-week course, with the majority based in the US, the UK and Canada, reports University World News.