What Could (Should?) the President Do Now?

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Last week, the President gave his second-to-last State of the Union speech in front of a Joint Session of Congress. As we knew, he talked about his plan for free Community College for all students eligible for admissions. In my last post on January 13, 2015, I posited that the President’s plan was not … Continue reading What Could (Should?) the President Do Now?

What Does Mike Rowe know about College?

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I like Mike Rowe. Rowe, the host of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs and the new CNN program, Somebody’s Gotta Do It, is a complex guy. A former opera singer (really) and host for QVC (has great stories about Joan Rivers), Rowe has become an outspoken proponent for the blue collar jobs and workers in … Continue reading What Does Mike Rowe know about College?

The Future Isn’t Here Yet

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I read an interesting piece in The Atlantic titled “The Future of College?” about the Minerva Project, a new higher education offering by multi-millionaire Ben Nelson. Minerva has just started with their introductory class: 33 students. It does not sound like much, but it is a start. I do not know much about Minerva and I cannot find … Continue reading The Future Isn’t Here Yet

Facing Global Challenges: A European University Perspective

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I was running through some aged writings online the other day and came across a presentation I made on March 20, 2009 at the invitation of the European University Association (EUA) in one of my fav cities, Prague.  I remember the convention being one of the most organized, academic-conferences I had been to, and I was invited to … Continue reading Facing Global Challenges: A European University Perspective

Four Years Later: What Happens After College Graduation?

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute This morning I woke up to a New York Times article about an unemployed graduate of a for-profit institution. We’ve read many of these types of articles. Although they are mostly anecdotal, the sheer number of these articles, along with our unemployment data, assign more credibility to these writings. We know that … Continue reading Four Years Later: What Happens After College Graduation?