College for All? Please….

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute In the past few weeks I have read opeds and articles from the Washington Post’s Robert Samuelson (May 27: It’s Time to Drop the College-For-All Crusade), former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (May 18: The Commencement Address That Won’t Be Given), Mui and Khim in the Post (May 28: College Dropouts Have Debt But … Continue reading College for All? Please….

Empowering Students and their “BigFuture”

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International This week I was pleased to take in The College Board’s unveiling of BigFuture at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. BigFuture is a new, sophisticated, but-surprisingly user-friendly web interface developed by the Board in partnership with the Education Conservancy. There have been many career information systems and college search engines puttering around. Even … Continue reading Empowering Students and their “BigFuture”

The Financial Woes of Higher Education

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International While I typically write about the affordability problems related to higher education, this week I am tackling the other side of the dilemma: the infrastructure and financial problems facing institutions and systems of higher education in the United States. Just yesterday, two articles appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education regarding financial issues. The … Continue reading The Financial Woes of Higher Education

A Post-Hoc Analysis of the 2006 Spellings Commission Report on Higher Education

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International This morning, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article on The Spellings Commission of five years ago, noting, in former North Carolina Governor James Hunt’s words: “One of the most important reports in the educational and economic history of our country-if we act on it.” Five years later, little has been done to … Continue reading A Post-Hoc Analysis of the 2006 Spellings Commission Report on Higher Education

The Postsecondary Drive to For-Profit Mentality

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International This is the opening paragraph of this morning’s article in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Texas A&M University faculty members who are alarmed by the apparent influence that a conservative think tank is having on their university urged the system’s regents on Thursday to distance themselves from a group that they fear would move … Continue reading The Postsecondary Drive to For-Profit Mentality