By Watson Scott Swail, President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute/EPI International

This week I was pleased to take in The College Board’s unveiling of BigFuture at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. BigFuture is a new, sophisticated, but-surprisingly user-friendly web interface developed by the Board in partnership with the Education Conservancy.

There have been many career information systems and college search engines puttering around. Even the US Department of Education houses several excellent web tools, including  College Navigator and the College Affordability and Transparency Center, and EdTrust has College Results Online. But BigFuture is a game changer by putting even more power in the hands of those who truly matter—students.

This isn’t meant to serve as an advertisement for BigFuture, although, as a former employee of The College Board, I must say I am somewhat smitten with this new release. It came to me while listening to some of the students speaking at the press conference why this is so important. We (collectively) talk often and loudly about the need for change from states, provinces, institutions, and other education stakeholders. We urge more funding, more financial aid, and even more accountability for higher education. We talk about school reform to level the playing field for all students, especially those who are from low-income and/or first generation backgrounds.

But when we talk about these things, we are always pointing to government agencies to fix them. READ MORE....