The Problem with Loan Forgiveness

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Last week, Presidential nominee and Senator Elizabeth Warren called for the cancellation of student loan debt for 42 million borrowers. According to an article by InsideHigherEd.com, this would result in cancelation of $50,000 of loan debt for former students who incomes are less than $100,000 and even provide forgiveness for those with incomes up … Continue reading The Problem with Loan Forgiveness

You Can’t Handle the Truth! When High Profile TV-Types Get the Story Wrong on Education and the Workforce

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scientist, Educational Policy Institute Listen to today’s Swail Letter on iTunes and Soundcloud. I keep a TV on in the office on most days, switching channels depending on the discussion at hand, typically leaving it in mute and sometimes switching to the NHL Channel for a few minutes. Everyone has their vices. Mine are politics and hockey. Yesterday, I … Continue reading You Can’t Handle the Truth! When High Profile TV-Types Get the Story Wrong on Education and the Workforce

You Can Pay Me Now, or Pay Me Later.

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Back in 1971, the FRAM oil filter company introduced what would become a very popular commercial on TV that ended with this tag line: “You can pay me now, or pay me later.” The meaning being that the cost of a $10 oil filter could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars down the road. … Continue reading You Can Pay Me Now, or Pay Me Later.

The Higher Education Machine

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute   I receive emails and have emails forwarded to me of the many companies that provide consulting services to higher education. As a disclaimer, EPI provides consulting as well, mostly through my personal keynotes and workshops at institutions. However, the sheer scale of the third-party vendor arena is mindnumbing. Literally thousands of companies are … Continue reading The Higher Education Machine

The Complex “Question” of Gender Identity

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Which gender are you? Seems like a simple question, but not so much anymore. With the coming US Census as well as other annual surveys by the federal government in the US and in other countries around the world, there are more considerations about how we get to the issue of gender identity and … Continue reading The Complex “Question” of Gender Identity