Category: Research/Policy

2011, College Access, College Affordability, Financial Aid, Research/Policy

The Pell Grant and College Costs: An Impossible Scenario

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International There has been recent consternation on the proposed cuts to the Pell Grant program in the United States. For the uninformed, the Pell Grant is a means-tested grant program which targets low-income students. It is, to be sure, the foundation of the US student financial aid system. All other aid is applied after the … Continue reading The Pell Grant and College Costs: An Impossible Scenario

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2011, College Affordability, Research/Policy

Higher Education: A Right or a Privilege?

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International A few weeks ago, I was featured in a Canadian Press article about McGill University’s privatization of its MBA program. Last year, McGill announced that it would raise its MBA tuition 900 percent, from a little over $3,000 to $29,500 a year. This massive increase has raised the ire of many in Canada, including … Continue reading Higher Education: A Right or a Privilege?

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2011, Research/Policy

An Open Letter to All Organizations in Need of a Program Evaluator

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International Dear Prospective Client: My organization and thousands of others, including university-based, non-profits, and for-profit organizations, are pleased that you are soliciting our help in evaluating your project. This is how we keep the doors open, and, in our case, as a non-profit organization, it is how we preach our mission of expanding educational opportunity … Continue reading An Open Letter to All Organizations in Need of a Program Evaluator

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2011, Politics, Research/Policy

What the President’s Budget Really Need(s/ed) To Do

By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/ EPI International The pundits are now coming out of the woodwork to discuss the President’s budget, which is unlikely to even remotely pass the way it is currently packaged, and as House Republicans plan on cutting much more liberally (no pun intended) than the President. In total, the President’s budget cuts approximately $1 trillion over … Continue reading What the President’s Budget Really Need(s/ed) To Do

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2011, Research/Policy

Not Quite Achieving the Dream

Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute Back in 2004, Lumina Foundation for Education began pumping millions of dollars into its Achieving the Dream initiative, an effort to improve educational practice at two-year institutions through data-driven decision-making, the use of learning communities, and changing the way students are processed at community colleges. Seventy-six million dollars later, a new MDRC report suggests that … Continue reading Not Quite Achieving the Dream

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