Retention as a Budget Saver
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International Next week is a big week for EPI, as we stage the Fourth Annual International Conference on Student Retention, or RETENTION 2009, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This sounds like a marketing lead to our conference, starting May 27th in New Orleans, Louisiana, with CNN Hero of the Year Liz McCartney and former Philadelphia … Continue reading Retention as a Budget Saver
From Hydrocarbons to Higher Learning: The Arabian Peninsula’s Education Boom
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week, the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) unveiled its recommendations for changes to the current federal financial aid system. This comes at the heels of what undeniably will be a sea change in the present system by the Obama Administration. NASFAA has called this offering a National Conversation Initiative, which included town … Continue reading From Hydrocarbons to Higher Learning: The Arabian Peninsula’s Education Boom
Stimulus Crazy
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Yesterday In recent Week in Review Commentaries, I’ve discussed the difficulty assessing the true nature of the current financial straits we find ourselves in. President Obama has spent an inordinate amount of federal funds trying to rescue the economy, and just this week, the G-20 announced it would infuse an additional $1.1 trillion dollars to the … Continue reading Stimulus Crazy
Facing Global Challenges… A European University Perspective
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute PRAGUE, CZ — I write this morning from beautiful Prague, or Praha by local standards, one of my favorite cities in the world. By the time most of you get this in your mailbox this Friday morning, I will have delivered my plenary address at the European University Association’s Annual Convention. The theme of this year’s … Continue reading Facing Global Challenges… A European University Perspective
Arrogance, Ignorance, and Evaluation
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute After 25 years as an educator and 15 as an evaluator, data geek, and policy wonk, I’m forever fascinated and amazed at the arrogance and ignorance people have toward evaluation of educational programs. Maybe I’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd for too long, but I don’t think so. I’ve worked for a variety of … Continue reading Arrogance, Ignorance, and Evaluation
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 