In his second term, United States President Donald Trump has moved quickly to slash federal research funding, abandon aid commitments to higher education capacity building and scholarships and force universities to end diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. Below we track the impact in the US and globally.

United States President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order to restructure the nation’s college and university accreditation system and cancel diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, measures, a move professors say is another means to control higher education and will open the door to corruption.

Ahead of Australia’s forthcoming national election, the opposition Coalition’s promise of new funding for campus infrastructure in regional areas to boost higher education has won support from Universities Australia, for recognising the social, economic and cultural value of higher education and research.

A new study argues that inaccuracies in the mapping between journal subject classification by Elsevier and the narrow subject field used by two major global university rankings organisations in their subject rankings system have resulted in inaccuracies in institutional scoring in both rankings.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, Kashmiri students studying in various parts of India have reported a surge in threats and harassment, prompting calls for state authorities to take extra measures to ensure the safety of affected students.

Indonesia’s former president Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, has returned to his hometown in Solo, Central Java, to live as an ordinary citizen but now faces two lawsuits, one of which – the authenticity of his tertiary education diploma – challenges the legality of his past presidency.

Since India started welcoming foreign universities almost two years ago, attention has focused heavily on Gujarat’s GIFT City, which has emerged as the favoured location for several overseas branch campuses. Now, however, other states are actively positioning themselves as hubs for foreign universities.

A university in Hong Kong has formulated an ‘outside the textbook’ model of service learning that uses international trilateral partnerships to give students the opportunity to benefit from cross-cultural learning. It is a model that is inspiring other universities to follow suit.

The adoption of micro-credentials in Southern Africa is fragmented because of limited regulatory guidance, but Mauritius has made significant progress in the conceptualisation of the concept, and some of its universities are collaborating with international institutions to offer credit-bearing courses that can translate into formal qualifications.

Algerian researchers have developed the first home-made electronic chip as part of a broader national strategy to position universities as hubs for technological innovation – and to reinforce the role of Algeria’s higher education institutions as drivers of the knowledge economy.

The African Union Commission has officially launched the African Space Agency at its headquarters in the Egyptian Space City in Cairo as part of its efforts to harness space technology for sustainable development and to coordinate the region’s work in this sphere.

In what higher education leaders consider an existential moment, the American Association of Colleges and Universities has issued an extraordinary statement slamming President Donald Trump’s administration for ‘unprecedented overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education’ and calling for ‘constructive engagement’.

Interest from prospective international students in going to the United States for graduate studies has dropped by 44% since the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January – a period in which he has made massive cuts to university-based research and attacked university administrations and academic freedom.

Over 60,000 students have been told they will need to re-sit their matriculation examination after a fire caused by the devastating earthquake that hit Myanmar late last month destroyed nearly 400,000 answer sheets being marked by lecturers at the badly damaged Mandalay University.

After the Senate voted to support the Dutch government’s cutbacks to education and science funding, amounting to €500 million (US$570 million), several universities are going to court. Doubts about the legality of some of the funding cuts were not enough to save the budget.

Academics in the Netherlands are concerned that a proposed new law requiring the screening of incoming graduate students and researchers intending to work in ‘sensitive’ subject areas could create delays that might drive foreign talent to apply to universities in other countries instead.

The Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has decided to replace French with English at universities, starting in September when the new academic year begins. Experts say the move reflects a wider anti-France mood in the region. They recommend a more gradual implementation process.

In another attempt to safeguard the integrity of the higher education sector, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered several higher education regulatory bodies to clamp down on illegal tertiary institutions undermining the credibility of the education sector in the country.

Denmark has introduced sharpened regulations for work permits for international students from outside Europe and their accompanying family members due to extensive reports of misuse. This may lead other European countries to rethink their immigration rules, shaping student mobility policies for years to come.

As university chiefs in the United Kingdom wait in anticipation for the Labour government to unveil a new international education strategy, a key architect of the last government’s master plan to attract more overseas students admitted major deficiencies in the 2019 strategy that he introduced.

Using Truth Social, United States President Donald Trump has struck out at Harvard University, threatening to remove the tax-exempt status it has had for centuries – on top of a US$2.2 billion cut to grants – after it refused to accept demands for swingeing changes.

With national university tuition fees rising, the Japanese government is launching new initiatives to help financially strapped students, focusing on increasing public grant scholarships and exempting loan repayments for some disadvantaged students, as well as paving the way for students to apply for free tuition.

The increasingly hostile regime being created for international students and scholars in the United States – involving denial of entry, detentions, deportation and even being ‘disappeared’, according to human rights experts – has triggered a plethora of travel warnings from foreign governments and higher education institutions.

As the number of local students opting for doctoral studies declines and the need for high-level skills grows, governments in Norway and other Nordic countries are recognising the value of effective strategies to increase the number of international PhD graduates that stay.

The Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy is to launch a project on Danish PhD education to explore whether or not more can be done to improve the pathway to employment outside of academia and to enhance creativity during the PhD programme.

University sector representatives have condemned a recent Coalition pledge, made by opposition leader Peter Dutton, to cut international student numbers further and raise student visa fees, saying this would damage the economy and Australia’s global reputation but not solve the housing crisis as claimed.

In a move aimed at facilitating higher education globalisation, India’s University Grants Commission announced new regulations for the recognition and equivalence of foreign qualifications, promising the speedier processing of applications by graduates to have their overseas degrees recognised back home in India.

The University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, recognised for its socially accountable, equity-centred medical education, will be the institutional home of the newly launched Consortium of Medical Schools in Africa, a continent-wide platform aimed at transforming professional health education.

Facing increasing cost pressures, European universities must take action to strengthen their financial resilience by finding new ways of generating income, tackling inefficiencies and being more strategic in prioritising their activities, according to a new report from the European University Association.

A Tunisian student fell to his death after attempting to hang a Palestinian flag on the building of the Higher School of Design Sciences and Technologies in Dandan in the Manouba Governorate, Tunisia, during a wave of protests in North Africa demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Dr Paul Chambers, a prominent foreign scholar at Thailand’s Naresuan University, has been arrested following a complaint filed by the Third Army Region. This is the first case of a foreign academic formally charged under the law that penalises insulting the Thai monarchy.

After South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal from office following impeachment charges, growing political uncertainty has raised concerns over the future of the ‘glocal university’ project and the government’s ability to enforce several of his administration’s higher education policies, including deregulation of universities and tuition freezes.

Plans to cut arts and humanities enrolments at a Chinese university considered a traditional stronghold for humanities scholarship have sparked heated discussions over the decline of liberal arts education in China and whether the government’s science and technology drive has gone too far.

China is perhaps the world’s new science superpower, in terms of gross spending on research and development, a new OECD report reveals. Meanwhile, research is under threat in the world’s two other research giants, America and Europe, says Sir Peter Gluckman, president of the International Science Council.

The ‘European degree’, a new qualification to be awarded after transnational bachelor, masters or doctoral programmes, offers a unique value proposition, but needs to be effectively managed, according to experts participating in an online meeting hosted by the League of European Research Universities.

Harvard University, which stands to lose up to US$9 billion in federal monies if it does not satisfy the Trump administration that it is doing enough to combat antisemitism, is the latest target of what some commentators believe are essentially attempts to silence truth-seeking institutions.

Well over half of professorial positions at India’s premier higher education institutions, including its renowned Indian Institutes of Technology and centrally funded universities, are vacant – with implications, experts argue, for quality and India’s aspirations to become a global hub for innovation and higher education.

South Korean medical students who have been on a prolonged ‘leave of absence’ in protest over a government plan to increase medical school admissions have re-registered and are expected to return to campus. Whether it marks a definitive end to the boycott remains unclear.

Women dominate Namibia’s cabinet, which is led by Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the country’s first-ever female president, who has set clear education goals during campaigning, including overhauling the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund.

The imminent arrival of three eminent American Ivy League professors and efforts by Canadian universities to attract researchers from the United States, Canadian officials hope, herald the reversal of a perennial problem for Canadian universities: the brain drain to the US.

Universities and environmental organisations in Southeast Asia are spearheading a campaign to protect the region’s wetlands – mangroves and peatland – which they call the world’s ‘green lung’, with recent research finding that these areas play an outsize role in reducing greenhouse emissions.

New measures are being introduced by the Japanese government to try to make longer-term study abroad more attractive in a sector deeply affected by a weaker local currency, financial uncertainty and student concerns about missing out on local job recruitment opportunities, according to experts.

To accelerate AI-empowered education reforms, and inspired by the launch last year of the homegrown generative AI intelligence model DeepSeek, the Chinese government is pushing a shift to open-source models, including the development of a government-led open-source collaboration platform to foster cross-sector innovation.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex has pledged to contest the decision of the United Kingdom’s higher education regulator, the Office for Students, to fine the university £585,000 (US$757,000) for failing to uphold freedom of speech during a period of pro-transgender rights campus protests.

Alarmed by the impact the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion, or anti-DEI, agenda is having on research collaborations across the Pacific, Australia’s leading universities and the Australian Academy of Science are pressing for greater collaboration with Europe and seeking deeper bilateral ties in Asia.

Moves by the United States to detain and deport foreign students due to alleged links to pro-Palestinian causes or for taking part in solidarity campus protests are casting shadows over Indian students’ American dreams. Meanwhile, the Indian foreign ministry has urged compliance with local laws.

The Norwegian government has launched a new plan to strengthen the Norwegian research system, which will see it invest in supercomputers, create a national strategy for quantum technology, strengthen research safety, and improve conditions for international researchers and students.

The recent attacks by the Trump administration on United States higher education and research institutions – seen as global leaders in scientific research-based progress – have prompted the Swedish academic community to call on the government to strengthen constitutional and statutory protections for academic freedom.

The number of unemployed PhD graduates in South Korea has soared to record levels in the past year, with the difficulty of landing a job becoming particularly severe in 2024 for PhD holders under the age of 30 and this year’s job market continuing to be subdued, according to analysts.

A leaked memo for grant management staff of the United States government’s National Institutes of Health instructs officers to hold “all [research] awards to entities located in South Africa”. Some experts estimate that as much as 70% of South Africa’s medical research is funded through the National Institutes of Health.

The new African Science, Technology and Innovation Leaders’ or ASTIL forum that has just been launched promises to significantly amplify the continent’s voice in global science at a time when nationalism and protectionism in other regions of the world are undermining the interconnectedness of the scientific community.

The uncertainty and seemingly wanton destruction behind the Trump administration’s slashing of research programme budgets for the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, and via the shuttering of USAID, have left researchers across the world afraid to speak out for fear of jeopardising other projects.

International students make a substantial contribution to the German economy, according to a survey by the German Economic Institute. And the more international students that stay on after graduating, the greater their impact appears to be, according to a recent comprehensive analysis.

The withdrawal of US$45 million in scholarships awarded by the United States development agency USAID has left 400 Myanmar students, many of them studying abroad, in limbo – unable to return to their country, unable to continue to pay for their education, and desperate for support.

A bill passed by Indonesia’s House of Representatives, which analysts say will allow members of the military to take up civil positions, has sparked major protests led by students concerned about a possible resurgence of military power over government and lack of transparency.

Researchers from South Africa and China have set a new world record in quantum communication, establishing the longest intercontinental, ultra-secure quantum satellite link to date. It also marks the southern hemisphere’s debut in quantum satellite communication.

The number of international students in the United Kingdom has dropped by 7% overall and postgraduate taught entrant enrolments from outside the European Union have fallen 10%. But that is not the only reason why universities are in financial difficulty, with one needing support to avoid running out of cash by June.

More collaboration, sustained funding and a national framework involving universities, employers and local government are needed to ensure all young people in the United Kingdom have the opportunity to access and benefit from higher education, according to a recent seminar on widening participation.

Applications for universities and other higher education institutions in Ireland have surged this year by 8.5% to a record 83,424, driven largely by rising numbers of secondary school leavers and a 15% increase in applications from students over the age of 23.

The Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions has endorsed the recommendation for a national support unit to manage the security risks associated with global research collaboration under the rubric of ‘responsible internationalisation’ – and has suggested it be based at Stockholm’s Swedish Defence University.

Universities in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province have reportedly been ordered to close on-campus academic activities and shift to online classes for an indefinite period of time due to the worsening security situation amid armed attacks on security forces by Baloch separatist groups.

University leaders this month called for more gender-responsive policies in higher education institutions amid an urgent need to strengthen the role of women researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and, most importantly, in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Egypt’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has launched a national policy for sustainable innovation, which aims to transform the country into an innovative and sustainable knowledge society. Under the policy, seven regional alliances aimed at stimulating innovation across the country were also launched.

The number of Indian students pursuing higher studies abroad declined by nearly 15% in 2024 compared to the previous year, with the largest decline being seen in Canada, where Indian student enrolments fell by a staggering 41%.

Interest in studying in the United States by international graduate students plummeted by 42% in the first week of January 2025 and had stayed at that level since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on 24 January, according to data released by StudyPortals.

An initiative offering emotional support and counselling has been introduced in Kota in India as an attempt to curb the high suicide rate among the thousands of students who flock to the city’s coaching schools annually to prepare for admission exams into engineering and medical programmes.

The National Union of Researchers in Cameroon has urged the government to introduce measures to safeguard academic field workers following the murders of two researchers and their guide by villagers in the Far North of the country, who allegedly believed the group were Boko Haram members.

Japanese scientists and human rights groups are fiercely resisting government reforms to the Science Council of Japan that will see the country’s foremost academic organisation lose its independence and fall under the scrutiny of outside experts appointed by the country’s prime minister.

The Lumina Foundation, a non-governmental organisation with a solid track record, has committed to working towards increasing to 75% the proportion of adults in the United States labour force with a higher education. Its vice-president says giving people the education they need and want is a moral imperative.

The European Commission has been warned that it is on a collision course with Members of the European Parliament, or MEPs, and the European Council over attempts to absorb the next framework programme for research and innovation, FP10, into a giant Competitiveness Fund.

The Netherlands has been cutting its international aid budget, dealing a further blow to higher education, science and research activities in Africa in particular, as well as affecting students from the continent and other regions who are intending to study in the European country.

South Korea’s Ministry of Education has allocated KRW58.5 billion (US$40.2 million) to address inequalities in university admissions. It is part of a broader effort to reform the education system, which has faced criticism for favouring students from affluent backgrounds and particularly those from the capital, Seoul.

Chinese universities should step up their efforts to ‘go global’ as part of the nation’s ambitious plan to become a leading education power within the next decade, university administrators and academics told the Two Sessions, a key political meeting, in China last week.

The University of Indonesia has announced it will ‘guide’ its graduate, currently the country’s minister for energy and mineral resources, in the revision of his doctoral dissertation – which had already been successfully defended – in line with academic standards after it came under scrutiny.

United States President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on universities to ensure adequate protection of Jewish students from antisemitism and is seeking to crack down on international students who were involved in pro-Palestinian campus protests. But critics have raised concerns about free speech and disregard for due process.

United States President Donald Trump’s executive order to exclude former students who are now non-profit workers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme has alarmed higher education bodies. Critics say it sows fear and confusion for students and is fundamentally about shutting down work of which the administration disapproves.

Pakistan’s prime minister this week announced that a new university would be set up in Islamabad using funds recovered by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency from a Pakistani real estate tycoon who had illegal dealings with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

Despite the overall rise in the number of indexed journals over two decades, 2003-23, Africa’s representation in the Scopus database remains disproportionately low, suggesting that the current global scholarly publishing system continues to marginalise African research output, even as other developing regions gain greater representation.

Concerned that its neighbour China is stepping up its knowledge transfer and influence activities abroad amid emerging reports of increased collaboration between China’s military-linked universities and Russian institutions, the Taiwanese government is taking action to close China’s influence and research security loopholes.

A new study has found several Nigerian universities to be ‘grossly’ deficient in making their financial and administrative records accessible to the public for informed judgments. The 64 federal, state and privately run universities that were surveyed were described as among the “least transparent” globally.

Social science research has a real impact on the reduction of poverty and inequality, two key Sustainable Development Goals – a correlation that underscores the need to bolster research capabilities to generate research-driven, tailored solutions targeting challenges in the Middle East and North Africa.

To what extent are universities in the United Kingdom continuing to engage with X or shifting their activities to alternative social media platforms? Research suggests a move towards Bluesky, but data reveals a more uncertain picture, as universities redirect their activities rather than exit the platform.

University leaders in the United Kingdom are struggling to keep up with the changing size, make-up and expectations of international and domestic student cohorts and face challenges in thinking about strategic positioning for the next decade, claim two leading experts in higher education change management.

Germany’s federal commissioner for combatting antisemitism has suggested that intelligence service officials should operate at all universities to check what he claims have been rising levels of hostility towards Jews in the academic world since the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The majority of Africa’s students who are interested in studying at universities in the world’s top study destinations prefer degree courses in health and related fields in response to a growing demand for health professionals in these destinations and emerging trends around the world.