Five for Friday

Cleaning up online college search

Entrepreneur John Katzman is on a mission to promote greater transparency in paid listings on school selection websites. He has asked the US Department of Education to issue formal guidance to schools regarding their legal obligations to disclose when listings are paid.

UK scuttles plan to send non-EU students home after graduation

British media has been abuzz with speculation in recent weeks after UK Home Secretary Theresa May floated a plan to require all non-EU international students to leave the country on graduation. The Home Secretary’s proposal came under considerable criticism, most famously from legendary British entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, and has now reportedly been shelved.

THE World University Rankings chart the continuing "rise of Asia"

The headline "World University Rankings 2014-15 show US strength on the wane", perhaps a bit gleefully, suggests a decline in US academic might as THE’s latest ranking promotes the improving position of Asian universities in world tables. However, an insightful analysis of the data by Alex Usher, President of Canadian-based Higher Education Strategy Associates, shines a light on the results for East Asia and Turkey in particular.

Higher education enrolment in Taiwan on the decline

by as much as 35% over the next decade due to a shrinking population and a famously low birth rate. As we reported previously, university mergers have already taken place. The upside? Improved teacher:student ratios are on the horizon.

The homepage is dead; long live the homepage

This item offers a stark reading on plummeting homepage traffic for major news sites. While the story is focused on news media, there are lessons here for all online marketers with respect to how the social web and search are changing the ways in which users encounter and move through websites.