Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International This morning, an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, titled Why Professors at San Jose State Won’t Use a Harvard Professor’s MOOC, illustrates an upcoming shootout at the MOOC Corral. San Jose State University professors are rejecting a Harvard MOOC course that is being forced upon them by the administration. In a … Continue reading Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Why We May Not be the Envy of the World

 By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy  Institute/EPI International Earlier this week, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria wrote a piece in Time Magazine (also in a segment on CNN) titled The Thin Envelope Crisis about US Higher education with consideration of the letters that are currently going out to over one million students regarding their acceptance or rejection. As Zakaria says, “For all the problems with … Continue reading Why We May Not be the Envy of the World

Destined to Fail?

by Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute and EPI International For the past two decades, I have followed higher education trends and practices as part of my work at The College Board, SRI International, the Council for Opportunity in Education, The Pell Institute, and, of course, the Educational Policy Institute and EPI International. My first detail focused on student access and persistence, … Continue reading Destined to Fail?

From the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” Category: Student Sues Vanderbilt?

by Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute Ok. I just read this article in The Chronicle for Higher Education this morning. “Former Graduate Student Sues Vanderbilt Over Grant-Payback Requirement.” The gist of the story is that a young, pretty graduate student receives acceptance letter from the famed Peabody College of Education and Human Development in 2009 offering her a position and … Continue reading From the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” Category: Student Sues Vanderbilt?

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….