For international educators, 2012 may well be remembered as the Year of Scrutiny, when perennial questions about overseas programs became more pointed. Missteps by some American colleges have led to a sharper focus on how they handle their recruitment of foreign students and their campuses abroad. Accreditors urge universities to be more watchful…

Like most Mexicans, Eugenio Yarce has been deeply affected by the violence between drug cartels and the Mexican army, which has filled news coverage with accounts of kidnappings, assassinations, and torture. But for Mr. Yarce, deputy rector for outreach here at the private Autonomous Popular University of the State of Puebla, or Upaep, the…

In a country where only 1 percent of college students can afford to study abroad, staking one's university's reputation on its international program might seem elitist. In a way, it is. But the University of Monterrey, where 40 percent of students participate in foreign-exchange programs, says that internationalization is also part of a broader…

Charismatic as well as politically astute, Ton Nu Thi Ninh is a patient woman--up to a point. As a high-ranking member of Vietnam's Communist Party, and regarded as the most powerful woman in the country, she had to be. But for far too long Ms. Ninh has watched the abysmal state of Vietnam's higher education handicap the country's future…

This article reports that at Rollins College, a liberal-arts institution, professors are paid to get away for overseas travel so that their students will learn to be more globally minded. The college's president, Lewis M. Duncan, has pledged to send every faculty and staff member with teaching duties abroad once every three years. Since 2006, 128…

This article reports that language barriers and faculty turnover are the major challenges to an American college's struggles to deliver value to students in China. The Liaoning Normal University-Missouri State University (LNU-MSU) College of International Business, a collaboration between MSU and a local university in China, is designed to mirror…

Foreign colleges and universities are pouring into China in large numbers, but many find that the road to success in China is paved with failed partnerships, unrealistic expectations, and bad planning. The Chinese government is also becoming more cautious after falling prey to some questionable foreign reports, and is reviewing new applications…

Describes how for-profit education companies are taking their turf battle overseas by buying colleges and creating networks with local partners. (EV)

Discusses how this Arab emirate is offering millions of dollars for a few U.S. colleges to open campuses there. (EV)

Explores whether commerce and academic collaboration can coexist as Universitas 21, a group of 17 universities on several continents, puts years of planning to the test in an online education venture. Faculty unions fear a lack of quality in the venture. (EV)

Discusses how, through several colleges in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, three powers--the United States, Turkey, and Russia--seek to influence the course of Central Asia. (EV)

A program that has awarded 94 scholarships to blacks attending one of the open universities--racially integrated institutions--in South Africa is described. (MLW)

More than 90 percent of the American Association of University Women's Educational Foundation funds comes from the association's 150,000 members. Awards for graduate study, postdoctoral studies, and international fellowships are reported. (MLW)

Examines difficulties faced by American university branches in Japan. Notes that 30 institutions developed programs offering American-style college education during the 1980s and 1990s but that only five have survived, due primarily to culture clashes. Focuses on experiences of the Temple University branch in Tokyo, which survives, and Minnesota…