The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

Author: Alex Usher

Quebec’s Private Student Loan Moment

Although we tend to think of student loans as either being something done by banks for profit or by governments to correct for market failures, there is a third type of student loan: namely, private, not-for-profit companies using a mix of private and public funds for charitable reasons. Probably the most globally significant institution pursuing this path is the Dominican Republic’s FUNDAPEC, which has its origins in a private sector effort to establish higher education in that country during a

Read More »
October 28, 2025 1 Comment

Fees Up and Fees Down, 2025

One perennial topic – maybe the most perennial topic – in higher education is that of tuition fees. There have been quite a number of developments with respect to tuition fees around the world this year and I thought it was worth recapping some of them for y’all. So here goes. In the category of countries lowering student fees, the action is almost all in Africa. Namibia has taken the bold step of announcing a completely free tuition system in

Read More »
October 27, 2025 1 Comment

The Fifteen: October 17, 2025

Welcome to The Fifteen, a global round-up of the stories animating higher education institutions and systems around the globe. Let’s get to it. And that’s the mid-October edition of the Fifteen. See you back here on Hallowe’en for the next edition. The blog is off next week, but you can still join Tiffany MacLennan for Focus Friday on October 24 (they’ll be chatting about international student enrolment).

Read More »
October 17, 2025 1 Comment

Access and Aftermath: What Racial Quotas Changed in Brazil’s Universities with Luiz Augusto Campos

Brazil exited the age of slavery 135 years ago. It remains a multi-racial society today. But for much of the twentieth century, Brazil suffered an enormous bout of amnesia. From being one of the last societies on earth to give up slavery, it immediately began touting itself as a place where colour did not matter, that it was a post-racial society. But then about 30 years ago, things changed. Race — or more accurately race and inequality — became a much more prominent subject

Read More »
October 16, 2025 No Comments

That Alberta Post-Secondary Review, Again

Just before I headed out on a work/vacation trip (I’m in Costa Rica today), the Government of Alberta dropped the report of the Expert Panel on Post-Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness, which I had previewed back here when the panel was formed about a year ago. So, on the way to the airport, I dashed off this blog to give you all the skinny.  First: it’s a good report! Might be the most sensible report on PSE that’s come out in Canada for quite

Read More »
October 15, 2025 2 Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

Subscribe

Search Posts

Search Publications

Social Media

Linkedin Youtube Spotify

Recent Posts

More thoughts on...