Nation Building and Higher Education

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Tomorrow I’m off to the UK for the European Access Network conference in York, England. It’s always fun to travel abroad and learn about access and opportunity issues from of different perspective. As I often mention to my global colleagues, Europe is dealing with issues that the US started dealing with after World War II, for … Continue reading Nation Building and Higher Education

Meet Liz, Vince, and Marvalene

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week the Educational Policy Institute hosted RETENTION 2009, the fourth annual International Conference on Student Retention. I know you know about it. If you subscribe to EPI, you couldn’t help but notice it. The conference was a qualified success—our initial reports were that the sessions were very good and the location—New Orleans and the Ritz … Continue reading Meet Liz, Vince, and Marvalene

Retention as a Budget Saver

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International Next week is a big week for EPI, as we stage the Fourth Annual International Conference on Student Retention, or RETENTION 2009, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This sounds like a marketing lead to our conference, starting May 27th in New Orleans, Louisiana, with CNN Hero of the Year Liz McCartney and former Philadelphia … Continue reading Retention as a Budget Saver

From Hydrocarbons to Higher Learning: The Arabian Peninsula’s Education Boom

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week, the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) unveiled its recommendations for changes to the current federal financial aid system. This comes at the heels of what undeniably will be a sea change in the present system by the Obama Administration. NASFAA has called this offering a National Conversation Initiative, which included town … Continue reading From Hydrocarbons to Higher Learning: The Arabian Peninsula’s Education Boom

Stimulus Crazy

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Yesterday In recent Week in Review Commentaries, I’ve discussed the difficulty assessing the true nature of the current financial straits we find ourselves in. President Obama has spent an inordinate amount of federal funds trying to rescue the economy, and just this week, the G-20 announced it would infuse an additional $1.1 trillion dollars to the … Continue reading Stimulus Crazy