New killings at Virginia Tech

USA: Two students aged 18 and 19 from the Virginia Tech University in the state of Virginia were found shot to death in a local recreation area, reports Associated Press (AP). The killings join the list of several terrible acts of violence by the university during the last few years. It was at this university that a student killed 32 students before killing himself to years ago in the largest school shooting in modern American time, writes AP. In January tragedy struck yet again when a doctorate student decapitated a fellow student in a campus café. On the occasion of the last killings, the university president writes in an email to all the students and employees by the university that «once again this society is visited by meaningless violence and tragedy (…) A trauma like this is deeply painful for us all.»

Application chaos

RUSSIA: A new reform for applications to higher education in Russia has created chaos, writes Interntionelt om Högskolan. Earlier, every applicant had to go through individual entrance examinations for the specific education, which was expensive and hard for the applicants who lived in other parts of the country. After this system was replaced by a joint admission with only one entrance examination the number of application has exploded. The Russian State University for the Humanities alone received 80 000 applications, the Finance Academy in Moscow received 50 000 applications and the law department at the Lomonosov Moscow State University received 2000 applications. President Medvedev has now appointed a commission to verify all the applications and the universities are working hard calling and telegraphing applicants who have been admitted by several universities to find out which education they want to prioritize.

Visa trouble lowers number of applicants

GREAT BRITAIN: It is now harder for non-European students to study in Great Britain, and British universities are worried that the number of international students will decrease with 20 per cent this semester, writes The Guardian. The reason for the government’s new immigration legislation is that international applicants have to fill several criterion in order to receive a student visa. They have to show that they are able to pay the tuition 28 days before they apply, have 600 pounds a month for living, and 400 pounds extra if they have other people to support. The applicant also has to have a biometric passport and must be able to show to exam results from his or her country before the application is sent in.