Improving Minority Student Participation and Retention in Higher Education.

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Back in 2005, I was asked by the Colorado Department of Higher Education to conduct a workshop and provide a Q&A on improving minority participation in higher education. This was on the heels of my 2003 Jossey-Bass publication, Retaining Minority Students in Higher Education with friends and colleagues Laura Perna and Ken Redd. I came across … Continue reading Improving Minority Student Participation and Retention in Higher Education.

College Brand X, Inc.

By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute It seems everywhere one turns these days there is a college or school district advertising for a branding company to help them with marketing. I literally see 3-5 RFPs a week requesting these services, mostly at the postsecondary level. I find this trend somewhat disturbing on a number of levels. On the whole, there is … Continue reading College Brand X, Inc.

Now That The SAT Has Been Revised… Let’s Revise How We Use The SAT

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Two days ago, more than a quarter million students around the country sat down for the inaugural debut of the newly revised SAT. The College Board had promised a new SAT to be more representative of their prior learning in school. Traditionally, the ACT is a test that is very reflective of school-based learning, … Continue reading Now That The SAT Has Been Revised… Let’s Revise How We Use The SAT

Musings on the 2016 Presidential Election and Ramifications for Education

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute In what will arguably go down as the “longest” election in the history of the United States, it is worthy of a conversation about the future of federal education policy. Why the longest? President Obama was inaugurated for the second time on January 21, 2013. One day later, the GOP started openly talking about … Continue reading Musings on the 2016 Presidential Election and Ramifications for Education

The Broken Record of Student Debt

By Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute I recently read an article by Mitchell Weiss of credit.com in USA Today titled “Student Loan Debt: America’s Next Big Crisis.” Weiss points out that the percentage of delinquent student loans rose from 11.1 percent to 11.5 percent between the first two quarters in 2015. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like much. But … Continue reading The Broken Record of Student Debt