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….

The Problem with Quebec

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute Two days ago, Quebec Deputy Premier Line Beauchamp vacated her position in the Quebec government over the tuition increase impasse between the provincial government and the student union. Apparently, the student union has won, which is too bad because they couldn’t be more wrong. Several months ago, the liberal government, headed by Premier Jean Charest, … Continue reading The Problem with Quebec

A Degree in Three Revisited

by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, President Emeritis, The George Washington University, and Gerald B. Kauvar, Research Professor of public policy and public administration, The George Washington University Because of increased financial constraints on all State supported and most independent colleges and universities one reads and hears more and more about the wisdom of fully utilizing existing facilities in order to lower costs and expand access.  Legislators and institutional … Continue reading A Degree in Three Revisited

Indiana’s Higher Education Plan to Save the World

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International This morning, InsideHigherEd.com reported on Indiana’s plan to double the number of college degrees by 2025, from 60,000 to 120,000. Indiana, led by Governor Mitch Daniels (George W. Bush’s former Director of the OMB), uses a performance funding approach to higher education. In 2009, Daniels signed a 6 percent budget across-the-board cut, and most … Continue reading Indiana’s Higher Education Plan to Save the World

Free Tuition? Really?

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International As we continue to hear more about free or cheap university programs through MIT and other players, news comes from the province of Alberta of the Liberal party’s platform to reduce tuition gradually until it is free. To do this, the Liberal Party plans on creating a Post-Secondary Education Fund which would add money … Continue reading Free Tuition? Really?