Deniz Saral, head of the business programme at Webster in Geneva.

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Webster University this week celebrates its 30th birthday in Europe and in Geneva with a reception and a gala dinner for  invited guests, but among professors and the 500 students the big celebration is for the renewal for 10 years of two key accreditations. Months of preparation and discussion lie behind the accreditations by the North Central Association Higher Learning Commission (NCAHLC) and the Associaton of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). Read more…

Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The University of Geneva (French site lists courses) has joined EPFL in seeing a 15% increase over the previous year in new undergraduate students, as 2008-2009 school year classes start this week. Geneva, which has some 14,500 students, has registered more than 3,000 in its first year class, with the college of social and economics studies the most popular option. Read more…

Back to school Monday at EPFL, with construction on the new Rolex Learning Center advancing. Photo taken in June.

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - EPFL, the federal polytechnic institute in Lausanne, opens its doors to students Monday with three new master’s degree options and a 15% increase in first-year and preparatory year students, who will number 1,400. The number of women, who are 26.5% of the students, has risen by 0.9%. Read more…

Cambridge University President Alison Richards told The Times, in advance of a presentation today, that elite universities should not be seen as engines of social justice and that the government’s efforts to push more students from poor backgrounds into these universities constitutes “meddling.”