The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

Category: Government

Bad Summer Essays

Back in the early days of this blog – lo, fifteen years ago now – I used to offer an annual award for “worst back-to-school article” in which I would excoriate whichever columnist had chosen to write something incredibly lazy, cliché-ridden and wrong. I eventually stopped giving out the award because the genre went into decline (I like to think it was because of HESA’s encouragement of data-enriched discourse) but this year, unfortunately, the bad takes have returned, albeit with

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September 15, 2026 1 Comment

The Postliberal University

Hi, everyone. I’m Alex Usher, and this is the opening episode of season five of the World of Higher Education podcast. American higher education is going through some unprecedented times. Republican governments in the States and in Washington now treat universities and colleges not as partners, but as an enemy to be conquered. University presidents are as likely to be pilloried by politicians as they are to be treated as important civic leaders. And legislators seem to feel empowered to

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September 10, 2026 No Comments

The State of Post-Secondary Education in Canada, 2026

Morning all. The State of Post-Secondary Education in Canada 2026 is out today, and you can download it here. Sincere thanks to our partners at Studiosity, Riipen, Pearson, Duolingo, Intellectual Property Ontario and Westcliff University for helping to produce this year’s version and keep it free for everyone to use. Anything you want to know about Canadian post-secondary education should be in here – but if it’s not, email us and tell us what you think we should add next

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September 9, 2026 No Comments

The Half-Time Show: Six Months of Global Higher Education

Hello, and welcome to the World of Higher Education podcast. I’m Tiffany MacLennan, and I’m your host for today’s episode. At the end of last year, HESA released the first ever World of Higher Education — Year in Review report, taking stock of the biggest stories and trends shaping higher education around the globe. Now we’re six months into 2026, and we’re checking back in. Joining me today is Alex Usher for a midyear halftime show on global higher education.

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June 11, 2026 No Comments

“Not Even as a Doorman”: Politics and Universities in Colombia

Colombia is one of the world’s most interesting higher education systems. With a roughly equal mix of public and private provision, it has long had to contend with issues like quality assurance and student assistance. And as a developing country, it’s always needed to balance the desire to expand its higher education system with the many competing demands on public funds. Colombia’s also in the midst of a very contentious election. Last weekend, just after this podcast was recorded, the

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June 4, 2026 No Comments
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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.

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