New York University’s Stern school is to drop the requirement for students on its Executive MBA programme to sit the GMAT or GRE tests in order to gain admission to the programme. The school already operates a waiver policy for many of its EMBA applicants.Stern is following in the footsteps of many schools offering EMBAs - MBA programmes for senior working managers. The main reason is that EMBA participants are usually in their 30s or 40s, and are usually accepted or rejected on the basis of their previous academic achievements and, more particularly, the relevance of their work experience.

Energy management, one of the most fashionable topics on the business school curriculum, is to be the subject of an executive masters programme to be taught in London and Madrid by ESCP Europe. The programme has previously been taught on ESCP’s Paris campus and in Norway.The programme, which will focus on the corporate management of energy issues, is designed for those who need an overview of the energy management business.

A strong academic base, English-language instruction and superb career prospects have made Stockholm University School of Business one of the most popular destinations for overseas master's students in Sweden.Many students see postgraduate degrees in management or business as a way to make themselves attractive to the best employers and boost their earning potential. Stockholm University School of Business is attracting students from around the world with its English-language master's courses.

Students at Abu Dhabi University will soon be able to register for courses, check their grades, take quizzes and contribute to classroom discussions on their mobile phones as the university launched its pilot of an application called Blackboard Mobile last week. As many as 75 students will participate in the trial before it is rolled out to other regional universities in September, writes Erin Conroy for The National.

Bangor and Aberystwyth universities are planning a "strategic alliance" as institutions around Wales look to work more closely, reports the BBC. A decision to form a "super university" in Wales was also recently announced. Education Minister Leighton Andrews has challenged universities to "adapt or die".

With healthcare reform on the agenda in the US and the UK, business school students are showing much more interest in an industry that until a few years ago attracted only small numbers of MBAs.The increased interest comes at a time when the job market remains shaky and sectors such as finance are still recovering from the credit crisis and the recession. Healthcare, say career counsellors, is a growth industry that offers business graduates opportunities to solve complex challenges, work toward the public good and draw a substantial salary.Policymakers in countries around the world are dealing with the problems of rising healthcare costs as well as an increasingly older population. President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul aims to expand health insurance to cover millions of uninsured Americans while curbing costs. And in the UK, David Cameron, the prime minister, has pledged to make fundamental changes to the National Health Service, the state-run healthcare system.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry likely will ease procedures to be completed by foreign doctors in entering this country to engage in medical training, ministry sources said.The move is part of the government's new growth strategy adopted in June, which includes an initiative to transform Japan into a center for foreign tourists seeking medical treatment.By relaxing such formalities, the ministry hopes to increase the number of foreign doctors coming to Japan under a government program designed to give them local medical training and improve their knowledge and skills.

China awarded more than 21 million academic degrees, including 335,000 doctorates, since 1981 when a landmark regulation provided a legal frame for the country's higher education.The academic degrees also included 2.73 million masters' degrees and 18.3 million bachelors' degrees, according to statistics revealed on Saturday at a meeting to mark the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the country's Regulations on Academic Degrees.

Ashridge Business School in the UK has given iPads to all participants enrolling on its full-time MBA programme in 2011, in a move to reduce the environmental impact of paper-based text books and case studies. Previously, participants would have started their programme by being given an introductory manual and course presentation notes, and they would have used their own laptops or one of Ashridge’s desktop PCs. As well as helping to promote sustainability at the school, the iPad initiative is designed to make learning easier, according to MBA director Ilze Zandvoort.

More than a year after classes began, the University of Paris Sorbonne's Abu Dhabi campus on Al Reem Island was opened officially last week, with the help of the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who was making his first visit to the region, writes Caline Malek for The National.Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, President of the Crown Prince Court, opened the ceremony by saying the establishment of prestigious universities was a significant step towards turning Abu Dhabi into a cultural and scientific hub.

Three business schools on three continents are to combine their talents to teach a one-year pre-experienced masters degree, the 3Continent Master of Global Management. The three business schools, Antwerp Management School, in Belgium, Fordham University, in New York, and the Xavier Institute of Management, in Bhubaneswar in India, will launch the programme in September 2011.“We need to have young people who have a global outlook on the world,” says Philippe Naert, dean of Antwerp Management School.