Nine Days in Riyadh
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA — This Friday afternoon finds me in the Saudi Arabian capital city of Riyadh, a city of approximately 7 million people in the middle of one of the largest deserts and oil deposits in the world. Today is a moderate day of approximately 36 Celsius (95F)… and this isn’t the hot season yet, … Continue reading Nine Days in Riyadh
Developing Our Most Valuable Resource
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute For the past couple of weeks, readers have read with great interest the exploits of Alex Usher and me during our Middle East trek. Twelve days in the Middle East provide one with a valuable and varied perspective on what we do and the role of Western society in the developing world. It is an interesting … Continue reading Developing Our Most Valuable Resource
I Faculty
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Yesterday we wrapped up the North American tour, so to speak, of our Student Success Workshop series, which was a great success in cities across the US and Canada. It was my pleasure to complete our tour with our largest event at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. As expected, it was a spirited group, as … Continue reading I Faculty
Study Abroad: an Old Idea Taking on New Growth
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute Last week I had the privilege of taking part in a conference in Berlin sponsored by the European Association for International Education (EAIE). The theme of the conference was “Innovation in Higher Education: What Research Agenda is Needed?” Speakers included Marijk van der Wende of the Netherlands, Simon Marginson of Australia, Barbara Kehm of Germany, and … Continue reading Study Abroad: an Old Idea Taking on New Growth
Still Arguing About the Cost Issues
Yesterday, Yahoo Finance posted an article on the worst-paying college degrees in 2010 (see below). Among them are education ($35,100 starting; $54,900 mid-career), special education, child and family studies, and social work. For those of you that follow the trends on return on investment from advanced degrees, the stable outcome of the past decade-plus is that only advanced degrees, such as law, medicine, and other professional levels, are beating inflation. BAs are holding steady, but anything else, including the now-vaulted associate degrees, are losing ground. Continue reading Still Arguing About the Cost Issues
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 