I am a product of higher education and my 10 years of postsecondary study have served me well. My college degrees gave me the opportunity to access better jobs and a better lifestyle. The College Plan worked for me, and it continues to help millions of others across the US, Canada, and beyond. What we are learning, however, is that it doesn’t help everyone in the same way. And for some, it doesn’t help at all. Continue reading The Over-Under on Underemployment
By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute To listen to today’s Swail Letter on your device, click on the podcast icon below. Last week I wrote about the issues of college admissions, selectivity, and grit. I can’t seem to read anything lately without hearing more about grit. As mentioned, grit is a term coined, to a degree, by Angela Duckworth in … Continue reading In Need of Institutional Grit
By Watson Scott Swail, President & Senior Research Scholar, Educational Policy Institute Did you know that only one third of four-year public students who earn a bachelor’s degree do so in four years? Another 25 percent complete in the fifth year, and a whopping 36 percent completing in six or more years[1]. Think about that for a moment. Truly the cost, in terms of fiscal … Continue reading 15 to Finish More Complicated Than it Sounds
My point in this Swail Letter is that I don’t generally buy what business is selling. Business says they want these attributes in their young workers, but their hiring practices illustrate a very different practice. Continue reading Blame Business
by Dr. Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute “This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies. Put a Glock to their heads.”\ The above is a quote from former Mount St. Mary’s University President Simon Newman earlier this year. I say former, because the quote, in part, forced … Continue reading “Put a Glock to Their Heads”
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 