Nation Building and Higher Education

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Tomorrow I’m off to the UK for the European Access Network conference in York, England. It’s always fun to travel abroad and learn about access and opportunity issues from of different perspective. As I often mention to my global colleagues, Europe is dealing with issues that the US started dealing with after World War II, for … Continue reading Nation Building and Higher Education

From Hydrocarbons to Higher Learning: The Arabian Peninsula’s Education Boom

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week, the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) unveiled its recommendations for changes to the current federal financial aid system. This comes at the heels of what undeniably will be a sea change in the present system by the Obama Administration. NASFAA has called this offering a National Conversation Initiative, which included town … Continue reading From Hydrocarbons to Higher Learning: The Arabian Peninsula’s Education Boom

Facing Global Challenges… A European University Perspective

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute PRAGUE, CZ —  I write this morning from beautiful Prague, or Praha by local standards, one of my favorite cities in the world. By the time most of you get this in your mailbox this Friday morning, I will have delivered my plenary address at the European University Association’s Annual Convention. The theme of this year’s … Continue reading Facing Global Challenges… A European University Perspective

Arrogance, Ignorance, and Evaluation

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute After 25 years as an educator and 15 as an evaluator, data geek, and policy wonk, I’m forever fascinated and amazed at the arrogance and ignorance people have toward evaluation of educational programs. Maybe I’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd for too long, but I don’t think so. I’ve worked for a variety of … Continue reading Arrogance, Ignorance, and Evaluation

A Place Called Hope?

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Tuesday was a special day. Every four years we have a wonderful opportunity to put aside partisan bickering and heal for a moment in an event so uniquely American, but also so important and consequential that the world stops to take notice. This, of course, was not the typical inauguration. It was the inauguration of the … Continue reading A Place Called Hope?