In The News

Peter Thiel: We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet – It’s Higher Education

Sarah Lacy April 25, 2011
Analysts prowl for the next bubble, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel argues that higher education is a likely candidate. In an article for TechCrunch by Sarah Lacy, Thiel compares higher-education costs with US housing prices: Both are touted as investments, promising long-term financial security; highly exclusive homes and educations can convey what Thiel calls “an unhealthy sense of...

India Graduates Millions, But Too Few Are Fit to Hire

Geeta Anand April 8, 2011
According to statistics, Indian strength is its youthful population and an increasing number are graduates. But corporations report that it’s challenging, sometimes impossible, to recruit qualified applicants for an expanding workforce. Analysts pin the blame on an outdated education system, which unlike the economy, did not enact reforms in the early 1990s. Schools endure corruption, prize rote...

China "to Overtake US on Science" in Two Years

David Shukman April 6, 2011
With a growing economy and rising surplus, China has invested heavily in education and R&D. "Chinese spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006," reports David Shukman for the BBC News. A study by the UK's national science academy compares the...

Visa Curbs Will Cut Overseas Students by 80,000, Says Theresa May

Alan Travis March 29, 2011
Great Britain’s dynamic campuses draw ambitious students from around the globe, the likes of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former US President Bill Clinton and Charles Kao, the so-called Father of Fiber Optics. But campuses may be less inviting as the government aims to reduce total net immigrants to 100,000 per year. Students account for the bulk of visas issued to non-EU immigrants,...

Jasmine, Mideast and Beyond

Nayan Chanda March 22, 2011
Brutal crackdowns on demonstrators in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain may temporarily quiet the protests, but the anger and yearning for rights have not vanished, contends Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online in an essay for the Times of India. He warns, “the mix of combustibles that fuelled the Middle East fire are still smoldering.” Decades of repressive rule, widening income inequality and high...

Degrees and Dollars

Paul Krugman March 8, 2011
The message is bleak: Education does not automatically lead to jobs, suggests Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist. To maximize profits, corporate executives steadily relocate factories to nations with low-cost workers or try fast-improving technology for tasks performed by well-paid, educated workers. Advanced technology and fast-growing productivity continue to reduce jobs, the economist...

India Needs a Sputnik Moment

David J. Karl March 4, 2011
Competition is a great motivating force for individuals and nations. In the global battle to innovate, the preferred weapon of choice is education. Warning his nation that India and China produce more engineers and scientists, US President Barack Obama calls for a Sputnik moment, harkening back to the 1950s when the Soviet satellite launch spurred new investments in education and technology. But...