The Challenges of Grade Inflation
by Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute According to a new study to be released in January of next year, the proportion of high school seniors earning an A average in school is increasing even as their SAT score is decreasing. One may suspect that teachers are passing on higher grades to students due to a variety of issues, not the least … Continue reading The Challenges of Grade Inflation
Moving Student Loans from the US Department of Education
by Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute There is an interesting piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education today on federal student loans. The piece argues whether FSA should be taken out of the US Department of Education and moved to the Treasury Department. What would be the value in doing such a thing? There is some value in this argument. … Continue reading Moving Student Loans from the US Department of Education
What Impact do the Trump Tax Cuts Have on Education?
by Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scientist Yesterday the Trump Administration, through the auspices of Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, released a trial balloon to test their tax plan in the media and Congress. True to Trump’s word, this is potentially the biggest change in the tax system in generations, starting with the reduction of corporate tax from 35 to 15 percent … Continue reading What Impact do the Trump Tax Cuts Have on Education?
New York Takes the First Dive into Free Tuition
by Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute On Friday, the State of New York announced that it would provide free tuition to families earning less than $125,000. The cost of the program is budgeted at $163 million/year in today’s dollars, noting that those costs will escalate in the coming years beyond the cost of tuition. For those who support tuition-free policies, this is … Continue reading New York Takes the First Dive into Free Tuition
The Federal Government and Public Education (A Budget Analysis)
by Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute I’ve written lately on the issues related to the Trump Administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. There are certainly red flags about the direction of the Administration, but these issues will take a while to play out, even though many of us have concerns about recent changes to student loans and the federal budget. But let … Continue reading The Federal Government and Public Education (A Budget Analysis)
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 