By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week, Claiborne Pell, a six-term US Senator from Rhode Island, passed away at his home in Newport, Rhode Island. Senator Pell was an extraordinary man whose passing signals the end of an era, in many ways. Most people know Pell because of the namesake grant named after him. According to accounts, the Pell Grant, which … Continue reading Farewell to a Giant — Senator Pell
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International My friends and colleagues at The College Board (dot.com, no less), led by the industrious Sandy Baum, released the annual Trends in College Pricing report yesterday. As many of our readers know, I am quite familiar with the Trends reports, having co-directed that series in the late 1990s. In fact, I had dinner … Continue reading $17,000 a Year… Scary as Hell!
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Yesterday, the College Board released a new report entitled Fulfilling the Commitment: Recommendations for Reforming Federal Student Aid. This project, a partnership of the College Board, The Spencer Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, and The Mellon Foundation, is, in part, a reaction to the Spellings Commission of the last year. No one is satisfied with the … Continue reading Re-Tooling Student Aid
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute As I sit at the Student Financial Aid Research Network Conference in Baltimore this morning, I thought it prudent to talk about financial aid today. Anyone with a pulse has certainly noted the travails of the student loan industry in the United States over the past year. When the Republicans were in power, the Dems squawked … Continue reading Calling Their Bluff
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International For a little US news this week, last night, the House of Representatives killed a $163 billion bill to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the first time that a large congregation of the GOP has joined the House Democrats in doing so. This was a somewhat unexpected occasion, but one that certainly … Continue reading The Most Important Payback of Them All
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 