An Iranian professor at the University of Delaware is protesting the school’s decision to represent Iranian students with the country’s official United Nations flag. Calling the banner “the flag of the Islamic regime,” he submitted a petition to school officials calling for it to be replaced with a flag suggested by Iranian faculty. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentShua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya, two former dorm directors at a small Christian university in western New York, acknowledge their names are unconventional, which explains why they attached gender identities to their work email signatures. Wilmot uses “he/him.” Zelaya goes by “she/her.” Their former employer, Houghton University, wanted them to drop the identifiers in line with a new policy for email formats implemented in September. Both refused and were fired. “My name is Shua. It’s an unusual name. And it ends with a vowel, ‘a,’ that is traditionally feminine in many languages,” Wilmot said in a nearly one-hour video hemore
Leave a commentStudents from Grenada, Norway and Canada were among those competing for St. John’s University in New York at the Big East Track and Field Championships. They helped the school finish second in the competition — its best finish since 1989. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentA Nigerian student who earned a graduate degree at the University of Arkansas Little Rock has scored a job as a data engineer at American Express. “Coming in as an international student, it’s like a dream come true for me,” Ifeanyichukwu Umoga said. “I am very excited to graduate and see what awaits me.” The school’s website has the full story. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentSouth Carolina Republicans on Saturday selected Drew McKissick as their chairman for a fourth term at a convention where some of the party’s 2024 presidential hopefuls made pitches to voters in the first-in-the-South primary state. McKissick has led the party since 2017 in a state where Republicans hold all statewide-elected positions, all but one U.S. House seat, and control of both legislative chambers. He defeated three challengers. Party officials said in a release that under McKissick’s leadership, “more Republicans than ever before” had won elections. Neither of South Carolina’s presidential contenders, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senatormore
Leave a commentThe head of Taiwan’s legislature visited Washington this week, where he met with top U.S. lawmakers and told audiences that the Taiwanese people are determined to defend themselves should Beijing try to invade. During a time when the island is under greater political and military pressure from Beijing, You Si-Kun, head of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, met with members of the House committee focused on China, as well as with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said they discussed security and democracy. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the two discussed “opportunities to work toward a tax agreement and expeditingmore
Leave a commentDebt limit talks halted again late Friday at the U.S. Capitol shortly after resuming, another sudden turn of events after negotiations had come to an abrupt standstill earlier in the day when Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it was time to “pause” negotiations, and a White House official acknowledged there are “real differences.” Top Republican negotiators for McCarthy exited the brief meeting shortly after talks restarted Friday evening. They said there were no further negotiations planned for Friday and they were uncertain on next steps. But a top White House adviser to President Joe Biden said they were hopefulmore
Leave a commentInternships help students build their resumes and learn real world skills that can help secure job offers after graduation. Yet many opportunities are unpaid, and only the best-off students can afford to work for free. Now, state universities in Wisconsin and New York are using their budgets to pay students who complete internships in their communities. Johanna Alonso of Inside Higher Ed reports on the promising outcomes of these programs. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentA pair of alumni from the University of Pennsylvania have donated $10 million to support international students, reported the student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian. The funds are intended to help international students in the School of Arts & Sciences. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentEach year, U.S. News and World Report ranks U.S. undergraduate and graduate programs. But recently, many prestigious medical and law schools, as well as undergraduate colleges, have opted out of the rankings, claiming they are inaccurate and don’t capture the nuances of each school. The newest rankings address this by prioritizing student outcomes over test scores and reputations. Jeremy Bauer-Wolf of Higher Ed Dive analyzes the changes. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentThe Chronicle of Higher Education reviewed data from the U.S. Department of Education for almost 4,000 schools. Scroll through their findings to see how schools stack up on racial and gender diversity, as well as their proportion of “nonresident foreign” students. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentThe U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday that Illinois can, for now, keep in place a new law that bars the sale of certain semiautomatic guns and large-capacity magazines. The high court denied an emergency request from people challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The law’s opponents had asked the court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues. The court did not comment and no justice publicly dissented. The high court’s action comes at a time when gun violence has been heavily in the news. Since the beginning of the year, 115 people have diedmore
Leave a commentA Ghanaian student at Central Michigan University who has spent his academic career studying ways to improve the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis is ready for the next step: a job at a U.S. drug manufacturer that will let him continue his work. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentFirst came the good news. After taking classes at a community college, Ricki Korba was admitted to California State University, Bakersfield, as a transfer student. But when she logged on to her student account, she got a gut punch: Most of her previous classes wouldn’t count. The university rejected most of her science classes, she was told, because they were deemed less rigorous than those at Bakersfield — even though some used the same textbooks. Several other courses were rejected because Korba exceeded a cap on how many credits can be transferred. Now Korba, a chemistry and music major, ismore
Leave a commentThe dominance of Western universities in global rankings is often cited as a kind of “soft power,” which allegedly makes elites around the world think and act like liberal democrats. But is this really true? Some leaders such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary or Bashar al-Assad in Syria, are illiberal, despite their extensive Western educations. Yet others seem to hold more liberal values than their educators did, like the anti-colonial Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi in India or Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya. Ultimately, we can’t predict how leaders will turn out based on their schooling. But international education can, andmore
Leave a commentIndia recently became the world’s most populous country, and 25% of the world’s population under the age of 25 live there. Unsurprisingly, it’s one of the biggest sources of international students in the Western world. But India’s government questions the value of this “one-way traffic,” arguing that the country loses valuable talent and should be attracting international students of its own. One member of India’s Economic Advisory Council said there are “too many university campuses on the planet,” since digital education is cheaper and more sustainable. Read the analysis from Viggo Stacey, editor of The PIE. (April 2023) …
Leave a commentThe monthslong impasse between the White House and congressional Republicans over raising the debt ceiling to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its obligations could derail Joe Biden’s upcoming meeting with allies in Japan and Australia. The U.S. president is scheduled to depart Washington for Hiroshima on May 17 to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders. On May 22 he is to continue to Sydney for the Quad Summit with a brief stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to meet with Pacific Island Forum leaders. The meetings have been billed as opportunities to deepen cooperation onmore
Leave a commentIndia sent more students to study in the U.S. in 2022 while China sent fewer, the Hindustan Times reported. In 2022, California hosted 225,173 international students, the Times reported, the largest percentage of any U.S. state. Read more about the trends and the numbers in the Times story. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentNot exactly, according to a new survey of the two groups conducted by the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management (NAGAP). Compared to students, the managers overestimated the difficulty of the application, while underestimating how hard it is for students to find the “best fit” school for them. Maureen Manning summarizes the findings for The PIE News. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentIn many countries, undergraduate degrees focus on one area of study and take three years. But in the U.S., students are expected to take a series of courses across the arts and sciences before they choose their major. This process is supposed to take four years, though many students need more time. An op-ed in Inside Higher Ed reviews the history of the three-year degree, and argues that U.S. students would save money, get better grades and receive better teaching under such a system. Lou Matz offers an argument in Inside Higher Ed. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentThe Eastern Michigan University International Student Association has revved up, increasing its community involvement as the coronavirus pandemic wanes. EMU Today, a university publication, writes that recent activities include a cultural talent show, a clothing drive for local community shelters and an event that highlighted food from around the world. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentThe New York Times spotlights a Kenyan student whose commitment to music and creative writing won her a spot at the prestigious school, where she is studying to be a journalist. Despite such stories, countries around the world are spending less on the subject, and many have no official arts programs for students at all. The reason? Societies still don’t understand the intellectual and emotional benefits. Ginanne Brownell has more. (May 2023) …
Leave a commentDuring a tense CNN town hall Wednesday, former President Donald Trump dug in on his lies about the 2020 election, downplayed the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and repeatedly insulted a woman in response to a civil jury’s finding this week that he was liable in sexually assaulting her. During the contentious back-and-forth in early voting New Hampshire — where moderator Kaitlan Collins sometimes struggled to fact-check his misstatements in real time — Trump continued to insist the election had been rigged, even though state and federal election officials, his own campaign and White House aides, and numerous courts havemore
Leave a comment“The fee for a master’s degree at University College London is more important than the price of fish,” writes Alan Beattie, referring to the fisheries debate that stalled Brexit. Beattie claims that in a globalized world, Britain, along with other English-speaking countries with prestigious schools, must recognize that education is another service to trade. Enrollment could increase if governments began treating it as an “educational export.” Read more in the Financial Times. (May 2023) …
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