Some Chinese Provinces Suspend College Mergers After Student Protests

Education authorities in China’s eastern Jiangsu province have suspended a plan to merge independent colleges with vocational institutes after student protests led to a violent confrontation with the police.Such protests are rare in China because authorities tightly control mass movements to maintain social stability.The Jiangsu students attending independent colleges, and their parents, see the merger…

US University to Help Deaf Youth in Nigeria

An American private university dedicated to the education of the deaf and hard of hearing says it will use a grant from the U.S. government to assist deaf youth in Nigeria.Gallaudet University in Washington said it will use the $2.05 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to help Nigeria develop programs for…

Heart Disease Seen in Some Younger COVID-19 Patients

Health professionals continue to see heart disease in some young people who have had COVID-19, those who have been vaccinated against the virus, and among student athletes, in general.Cardiomyopathy is an inflammation and weakening in the walls of the heart.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta has reviewed vaccine safety data…

Palestinian Students Recount Feelings of ‘Survivor’s Guilt’

Young Palestinians living and studying abroad say they are tied to social media with a sense of helplessness as they follow the repercussions from the most recent violence back home.“You kind of get, like, survivor’s guilt. You know, like, ‘Why is it not me that that’s happening to?’ and ‘What, like, what can I do…

For Native Americans, Harvard and Other Colleges Fall Short

When Samantha Maltais steps onto Harvard’s campus this fall, she’ll become the first member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe to attend its prestigious law school. It’s a “full-circle moment” for the university and the Martha’s Vineyard tribe, she says.More than 350 years ago, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, became the first Native American to…

Lithuanian University Student Detained with Belarusian Blogger

A law student from European Humanities University (EHU) was detained along with a Belarusian blogger after Belarus forced their commercial flight to land in Minsk rather than Lithuania.  “As a result of a cover operation by the Belarusian authorities,” student Sofia Sapega “was detained by the administration of the Investigative Committee for the city of…

Foreign Students Are Targets of Hate Speech  

Joon Baek, a Korean student at Columbia University in New York City, was riding the subway last year when a woman sitting across from him began to shout. In America’s largest city of nearly 8 million people, it is not unusual to hear someone ranting. “I was commuting from campus back to Korea Town where I…

Proposed Funding Targets US Community College Upgrades

President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, released last month, includes $12 billion for community colleges to address technological needs, help protect the health and safety of students and faculty, and narrow funding inequities.It also calls for two years of free tuition at community colleges, one of many parts of First lady Jill Biden, third…

Hungarian Plans for First Chinese University in Europe Prompt Security, Propaganda Fears

Hungary has announced plans to open a branch of a Chinese University in Budapest. Critics fear the development — the first of its kind in Europe — will be used by Beijing to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda and could pose a threat to national security.   The so-called “Student City” will be built on the site…

For Some Universities, Fall Semester Uncertain as Coronavirus Persists Globally 

The U.S. government’s pumping of $35 billion into emergency aid for college students has not been enough for some universities, say education experts.They cite drastically lower enrollments even as things appear to be shifting back to normal after more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic.“Enrollments are down quite significantly, both at the public institutions…

New York to Require Vaccinations of University Students

Students at the State University of New York and the City University of New York must get vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend classes this fall, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday. The requirement, affecting more than 435,000 full-time students, comes as Cuomo and other officials offer a slew of incentives aimed at encouraging people to get…

COVID-19 Takes the Pomp Out of US College Graduations

As graduation approaches for university and college students in the United States, students are preparing for one of the most important milestones of their lives. But this year, COVID-19 has taken the pomp out of this year’s celebrations. Yanet Chernet explains, narrated by Kathleen Struck. …

Indian Students in US Anxious About COVID-19 Back Home

Indian students in the United States say they feel helpless amid the massive wave of coronavirus infections back home.”I have very old grandparents and we just had one of my grandparents’ siblings die of COVID, so there is a lot of tension in the air with that,” said George Mason University senior Shabrina Parikh. COVID-19…

California Student Journalists Pool Resources to Create Online Newswire

Student journalists across 23 campuses of California State University have played a crucial role in keeping other students informed during the COVID pandemic. VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan reports that the student newsrooms are now linked through an online newswire, permitting students to pool resources and share information across the expansive state.  …

California Campus Journalists Create Newswire

Student journalists across 23 campuses of California State University have played a crucial role in keeping other students informed during the COVID pandemic. VOA’s Mike O’Sullivan reports that the student newsrooms are now linked through an online newswire, permitting students to pool resources and share information across the expansive state.  …

Professor Overcomes Loss to Craft COVID-19 Student Brochures

When the coronavirus pandemic struck New York City, LaGuardia Community College professor Lucia Fuentes assigned students in her honors biology class to compile all the information they could find about COVID-19. The result? An online multilingual brochure based on research from peer-reviewed journals, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

US Mission in Nigeria Ramps Up Interviews for Student Visas

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria will prioritize student visa applications for Nigerians to ensure they are interviewed for their visa applications in time for their programs start date this fall, the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria said.The embassy in Abuja and consulate general in Lagos will assist student visa applications in a timely fashion…

Scholarship Awards Up to $40,000 Are Available to Transfer Students

Carmen Escudero, a second-year student at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York, said she would use the scholarship money she is hoping to win to pave her path toward medical school.“It would help financially for my family and especially for me,” said Escudero, a biology student and member of LaGuardia’s Student Government Association, as…

Student Speech Case Escalated to Supreme Court

A dispute between a Pennsylvania high school student and her school district regarding off-campus profanity has been escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court.The Supreme Court said it would hear arguments in the case this week between a teenager who posted a Snapchat with obscenities while off campus and the school district that disciplined her for…

OK Boomer and Peter Pan, It’s Wealth Not Age 

 On one side of the TikTok split screen was a middle-aged man, ranting that “millennials and Generation Z have the Peter Pan syndrome.”     “They don’t ever want to grow up,” he said, referring to the fictional character who fights adulthood. On the other side of the split screen, a teenager contemplated the rant before…

US Employment Authorization Logjam Broken With New Filing Process for Foreign Students

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has relieved a backlog in the Optional Practice Training (OPT) process that was preventing international students from extending their visas.International students, or F-1 visa holders, can file online for OPT employment authorization using Form I-765 as of April 12. This option responds to a backlog of receipt notices in…

College Voters Overwhelmingly Approve of Biden’s Job in Office

U.S. President Joe Biden’s approval rating among college voters is 63%, according to a new Harvard Youth Poll, the highest for that demographic in the poll’s 21-year history.The poll said other high approval ratings by college voters came in 2003 for then-President George W. Bush, who received 61% approval, and in 2016 for then-President Barack…

Students Graduate From Earth Day Planting to Environmental Degrees

Fifty-one years ago, young people planted trees for the first Earth Day.   Today, students are taking part in environmental law, science and other disciplines to heal the planet.  “You don’t have to be an environmental professional to help the environment,” Briana Allison, an environmental science student at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, wrote to VOA. “Everyone should find a…

Social Media Was the Major Witness in Chauvin Trial

Young people say that the conviction Tuesday of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, an African American, is a step toward justice and social media is a tool in curbing police brutality.”It is definitely a step towards justice,” said George Mason University junior Shelby Adams. “However, young people, especially…

West Point Cadets Punished in Cheating Scandal

Eight students were “separated” — meaning expelled — from the U.S. Military Academy and more than 50 students must repeat a year following a cheating scandal, academy officials announced in a statement Friday. The academy, also called West Point for its location on the Hudson River in New York, will also end its willful admission process…

Liberty Sues Jerry Falwell Jr., Seeking Millions in Damages

Liberty University, which parted ways acrimoniously last year with then-leader Jerry Falwell Jr., has filed a civil lawsuit against him seeking millions in damages.The complaint, filed Thursday in Lynchburg Circuit Court, alleges Falwell crafted a “well-resourced exit strategy” from his role as president and chancellor in the form of a 2019 employment agreement while withholding…

In Arrest of Student Journalists, Signs of the Struggle for Russia’s Youth   

The Kremlin has long sought to clamp down on opposition politician Alexey Navalny’s appeal among younger Russians — as President Vladimir Putin, 66, has struggled to maintain his popularity among members of a generation that has essentially known him as the country’s sole leader their entire lives.    That approach took a new twist on…