PRESSURE: Two Perspectives on Pressure in Higher Education

The Boston Globe published a piece on Monday (thanks to Academica.ca for their reference) on the practice of adding a ‘gap’ year between high school and college. In Europe, many students take a gap year, sometimes through military service, sometimes through travel and other pursuits. But in Canada and the US, there is a push to continue education and get into the workforce. Continue reading PRESSURE: Two Perspectives on Pressure in Higher Education

Myths on College Costs and Prices? I Don’t Think So…

Earlier today, Elyse Ashburn of The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote about the cost of higher education in her piece, News Analysis: Higher-Education Misperceptions, Myths, and the Media. In the article, Ms. Ashburn discusses recent findings from Jane Wellman’s group, the Delta Project. Continue reading Myths on College Costs and Prices? I Don’t Think So…

Beware of Those Pointing Fingers

by Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International

The higher education rags and blogosphere is filled with talk of the career college sector right now, instigated in part by a set of new rules emanating from the US Department of Education recently. This is reminiscent of the 1992 reauthorization, where Congress and ED went after the for-profit “fly-by-night” colleges. In 1992 and the years preceding the reauthorization, Congress called them “fly-by-night.” This year the term is “bad apples.” Semantics. Continue reading Beware of Those Pointing Fingers

The Winning Attitude

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute I write today’s commentary from Chicago, Illinois, where we are in the final day of our International Conference on Student Success, or RETENTION 2010. Thus, no more emails for another six months about this event. You must be relieved (Retention 101 coming up, though!). More significant, perhaps, is that our host city is in the midst … Continue reading The Winning Attitude

Leading by (a Bad) Example

By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International On May 20, The Texas State Board of Education voted to what some people have called “whitewashing” the history and social studies curriculum in the state to counterbalance “liberal-leaning academics.” Some of the changes debated included adding and deleting current political figures from third-grade social studies standards, dismissing the “socialist” United Migrant Workers, … Continue reading Leading by (a Bad) Example