International briefs

Major textbook publisher to rent not sell One of the US’s largest textbook publishers announced this month that it would start renting books to students at 40 per cent to 70 per cent of the sale price, reports the New York Times. Students who choose Cengage’s rental option will get immediate access to the first chapter of the book in e-book format, and will have a choice of shipping options for the printed book. When the rental term – 60, 90 or 130 days – is over, students can either return the textbook or buy it. Follett Higher Education Group, which manages more than 850 college bookstores, is starting a pilot rental program this year at about a dozen stores. The stores will offer about 20 per cent of their titles for rent, charging 42.5 percent of the purchase price. With college textbooks often costing well over $100 apiece, students spend an average of $900 to $1400 a year. The NYT says many students try to save by buying used books or ordering books from overseas, where they can often cost half the domestic price. Indian engineering institute branches into medicine The Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, one of India’s premier engineering schools, plans to open a medical college and hospital in partnership with the University of California, San Diego. The two institutions will be financial and academic partners in the venture. The IIT plans to have 20,000 students by 2020. The engineering school already conducts research related to biomedical engineering and related fields, and offers a three-year masters degree in medical science and technology. Finances tight for NZ universities New Zealand’s universities have reported their poorest financial performance in five years but it appears that worse is to come, reports NZ Education Review. With the annual reports for 2008 of all eight universities now published, the figures show the institutions made a collective surplus of $A61.3 million, their lowest overall surplus since 2003 and well down on the 2007 figure of more than $82 million. The surplus was equivalent to about 2.8 per cent of the sector’s income for the year, the lowest proportion this decade. The outcome included two deficits – at Waikato and Lincoln universities. New Zealand’s universities have long argued they need increased income to be competitive internationally. The Labor government had set aside $50 million a year for staff pay, as well as boosts to research funding. But the current government announced in May that it would trim $18 million from that funding from 2011. It also axed $8 million in change funding and cut a range of scholarships. 4500 bright UK teenagers missing out on university A government study has found that at least 4500 bright teenagers from the UK’s comprehensive schools are missing out on places at top universities after being let down at school, reports The Telegraph. Researchers said pupils were deterred from applying for high-status courses by poor careers advice and an attitude that leading institutions were “not for the likes of us”. Teenagers from private schools are twice as likely to apply for top universities as those from state comprehensives and five times as likely as students from further education colleges. The study was conducted jointly by the Sutton Trust charity and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Taiwan’s universities see record high vacancies Taiwan’s colleges and universities will suffer their lowest enrolment and highest vacancies when the new school semester begins in September, according to enrolment statistics released this month. With a record 97 per cent – or 76,400 students – admission rate, there are 6800 vacancies on the campuses, up from 4800 last year. Admission rates and vacancies at higher learning institutions have been steadily rising in recent years, due to Taiwan’s falling birthrate and the rapid increase in the number of colleges and universities opened in Taiwan over the past 15 years – from just 28 in 1986 to 147 in 2008. Eighteen college and university departments failed to recruit any students for the coming semester. At Hsing Kuo University of Management in Tainan City, five of 13 departments were unable to attract a single applicant. Botswana looks at Australia’s HECS Botswana’s education ministry has begun a review of its student loan scheme, which has sponsored nearly 100,000 students over 15 years but has never been evaluated, reports University World News. Under the scheme, the grant proportion is higher, and the loan proportion lower, if the student enrols in priority areas. The range changes steadily from a 100 per cent grant in category one disciplines including science and engineering to a 100 per cent loan in category five disciplines such as photography. But the scheme is undermined by a low repayment rate – less than 1 per cent – and loans not being repaid by students who study and stay overseas. The review suggested alternative models for a new scheme. Australia’s HECS and South Africa’s national student financial aid scheme – both of which feature income-contingent loans tweaked according to the priority of the discipline being studied – are reportedly strongly favoured.