A recent study found that the number of English-speaking master's programs at European universities has increased, Inside Higher Ed reported yesterday. This year has seen a 38 percent rise in such programs across continental Europe, which totaled 6,407 as of June. The study suggests that the number of programs offered, which is 10 times higher than in 2002, may explain why Britain is becoming a less popular provider of online courses in English. In recent years, many Scandinavian countries, including the Netherlands and Sweden, have switched nearly all of their postgraduate teaching to English. A law in France that bans teaching courses in any language other than French has become loosely enforced, and the number of master's programs available in English has risen to 494 from just 11 five years ago.
As Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces open this month, college students will likely hear conflicting messages about how the health care law will impact them, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Several organizations are visiting college campuses to inform and advise students about their health care options. A group called Young Invincibles works to encourage students to take advantage of Obamacare, while Generation Opportunity urges students to avoid the new marketplaces. Because the success of new marketplaces depends on signing up many young, healthy individuals, actions by these types of organizations may have a large impact on the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act.
In an unprecedented venture into international higher education, Centenary College of Louisiana will send its entire freshman class to Paris next year for a week, Inside Higher Ed reported. Accompanied by college faculty, 150 first-year students will study abroad in Paris and learn from Centenary professors in political science, chemistry, history and art. Though freshmen are able to take an optional French language course over the summer before matriculation, president David Rowe said the program will use Paris as a new setting for learning, rather than for students to understand French culture.
