Improving Minority Student Participation and Retention in Higher Education.

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Back in 2005, I was asked by the Colorado Department of Higher Education to conduct a workshop and provide a Q&A on improving minority participation in higher education. This was on the heels of my 2003 Jossey-Bass publication, Retaining Minority Students in Higher Education with friends and colleagues Laura Perna and Ken Redd. I came across … Continue reading Improving Minority Student Participation and Retention in Higher Education.

Monster: How Higher Education Continues to Reach New Lows

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute At a time when many of us are (consistently) questioning why higher education costs so much comes a report that the University of Cambridge is implementing a $332,000 doctoral degree in business. As reprinted in InsideHigherEd.com, Cambridge is planning on a new four-year doctor of business for October 2017. I am not sure why anyone … Continue reading Monster: How Higher Education Continues to Reach New Lows

A New Higher Education? Free Tuition? Again? Really?

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I read an interesting piece in iPolitics.ca by Ilona Dougherty about the issues of free tuition and the future of higher education—both issues I spend a fair amount of attention on. In the article, she mentions that the Canadian Federation of Students (CSF), a non-profit organization that, well, makes Bernie Sanders look like Ted … Continue reading A New Higher Education? Free Tuition? Again? Really?

America’s Newest Scholarship Provider: PornHub

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I read an interesting article today about a $25,000 scholarship given to a Texas woman who was down on her luck. The 48-year old will use the scholarship to continue her education. MaryAnn Uribe completed a two-year associate’s degree and now wants to complete her BA. The philanthropist in this case is PornHub, one of … Continue reading America’s Newest Scholarship Provider: PornHub

The Broken Record of Student Debt

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I recently read an article by Mitchell Weiss of credit.com in USA Today titled “Student Loan Debt: America’s Next Big Crisis.” Weiss points out that the percentage of delinquent student loans rose from 11.1 percent to 11.5 percent between the first two quarters in 2015. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like much. But … Continue reading The Broken Record of Student Debt