While the news for the past two weeks has basically been all US elections, there are still many stories from around the world of higher education worth paying attention to. This week on The Fifteen, we’re winging our way from Toronto to China to India, with stops in Canberra, London, and Jakarta along the way. Enjoy!

1. Seneca Polytechnic’s Markham campus becomes the first campus to close because of an expected decline in international enrollments. It will not be the last. Drop in international student students leads Seneca Polytechnic to close one campus (CBC News).
   
2. It’s hard to know how much of what Trump says will become actual policy; here’s some analysis of what an attack on federal higher education programs might look like. Republicans Could Abolish the Education Department. How Might That Work?(Inside Higher Education)
3. New survey data shows that Australia, the UK, and Canada—i.e. the countries that have recently been tightening visa regulations—are losing out on international student interest. The main beneficiary: the US. We’ll see how long that lasts.  Survey shows new visa rules are encouraging international students to apply to more destinations (ICEF).
4. Survey data suggests that the results of the US election aren’t top of mind for international students and don’t really affect the decision to study in the country. Know Your Neighbourhood 2024 Survey: (Intead & Studyportals)
5. There’s more than one G-20 country where a new President with suspected authoritarian tendencies is taking power, stoking concerns about academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Academic freedom fears as new Indonesian president takes office (Times Higher Education).
6. A big story from Australia on an expensive but not especially useful change to its system of student contributions and repayments Labour to wipe 20% of HECS debt in $16 Billion Move (The Age) See also commentary from the ever-insightful Andrew Norton. Albanese flags radical changes to student debt – with a 20% overall cut and drop in payment rates (The Conversation).
7. A strong candidate for Story of the Year: Studies have shown there is a small correlation between height and earning potential. The School of Management and Business at the Vietnam National University took that so seriously that it implemented a height requirement for some programs. The business school is now facing backlash, probably from the half of Vietnamese citizens who do not meet the minimum requirement of being above average height. Outrage at student height requirement (DW, Vietnam).
8. UK higher-ed is in rough shape, and students know it. This survey reports that a shocking 1/3 of students believe that their institution going bankrupt is an imminent possibility. Around one-third of students worry their university could go bust and one-half expect the Government to take over if it does (Higher Education Policy Institute).
9. There are many cool things happening in African Higher-Ed, but there’s a real question about how deep the commitment to new policies is when so many of them are exclusively funded by international donors. Africa’s commitment to fund HE harmonization question (University World News).
10. An interesting story on philanthropic donations to universities in China; it turns out that in the Middle Kingdom, just like everywhere else, the rich just get richer. Major Public Universities Pocket Lion’s Share of Education Donation in China (Caixin Global).
11. Cuts to Dutch higher education are an ongoing story. Now, big employers’ associations are getting involved, something you rarely see in North America. Why they don’t is an interesting question… Industry adds to criticism of HE cuts and language mandate (University World News).
12. The seven-member Innovative Research University network from Australia is banding together to build a campus in India, one of the first permitted under new legislation. Establishment of Australian university campuses in India just the beginning: Dharmendra Pradhan (The Economic Times).See Also: India Invites Australian university group to set up campus (University World News)
13. An interesting (albeit long) paper on the role of education in the economic rise of India and China, and in particular of the focus on either Humanities and Engineering.  Human Capital Accumulation in China and India in the 20^th Century. 
14. A university entirely focused on AI is opening in India. Andhra Pradesh soon to have AI University, data centres (The Economic Times)
15. The folks at Ithaka S+R have published a report on GenAI’s potential impact on scholarly publishing which sketches out two possible paths of future impact for this new technology. A Third Transformation? Generative AI and Scholarly Publishing, (Ithaka S+R).

Early-bird tickets for HESA’s AI-CADEMY: Canada Summit for Post-Secondary Education, are being extended. Check out our speakers and consider joining us for important conversations about the future of higher education in Canada.