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Category: Worldwide PSE

The US Debt Freak-Out

If you read the US papers at all, you’ll have noticed a recent ratcheting-up of panic about student debt.  Take Charles Blow’s recent New York Times column, which describes US debt levels  as “staggering”, and having “long-term implications for our society and our economy, as that debt begins to affect when and if young people start families or enter the housing market.” Some facts are in order. It is certainly true that, in the United States, it’s possible to accumulate some

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March 15, 2013 No Comments

Stuff Happens: Rise of the Latinos

When you think about recent developments in American higher education, the negatives tend to predominate.  Cutbacks in state funding, soaring tuition fees, ballooning debt levels – it all leads you to believe that there’s been an enormous diminution of access.  But, very quietly, there’s been one incredibly good piece of news: a massive jump in Latino participation rates. For decades, now, one of the biggest challenges in American higher education has been low participation rates among Latino students.  Latinos are,

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February 21, 2013 No Comments

The Demand for PSE: Never as Simple as You Think

The New York Times website had a great little graphic the other day about youth unemployment rates in urban China.  It looked like this:  Unemployment in Urban China, 20-24 year-olds               For people who see higher education entirely in terms of “work outcomes”, this kind of chart is deeply perplexing.  If higher education doesn’t pay, why do Chinese students keep lining up for university? There are really two sets of answers. First, one shouldn’t

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February 11, 2013 2 Comments

The Greek Choice

University World News ran an interesting piece the other day.  Apparently, the Greek government, as part of its continuing search for money, has devised a brilliant idea to get funds from the higher ed sector.  It’s going to close four universities, and reduce the size of the incoming class by about 30%. Well, that’s sure one way to do it.  Apparently, tuition fees weren’t considered – I’m not entirely sure why it wasn’t; it’s not as though they’re verboten in

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February 4, 2013 No Comments

UK Tuition Hikes Revisited

To recap: in 2012, average English tuition fees rose by 158% to roughly £8500, with no corresponding increase in grants.  As we’ve seen previously, this resulted in a fall in English applications of about 8%.  The effect was not evenly distributed among all groups: among 18 year-olds, the drop was 1-2% (depending on what base you use), whilst among applicants over 19, the decrease was 15-20%. But of course, it’s never best to rely on one year of data, especially

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January 31, 2013 1 Comment

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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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