Hobart and William Smith Colleges

21 January 2015 Rosensweig 83 on Free Tuition Proposal

Following President Barack Obamas proposal to offer two years of community college tuition-free to qualifying students, Chegg President and CEO Dan Rosensweig 83 (pictured on the right) offered his insights on the subject in an interview with Bloomberg West.

Its very ambitious and I appreciate its objective, which is to lower the cost of education, which has been rising 6 to 7 percent a year for the past 10 years, Rosensweig said. I dont think this answers the bigger problem, but I do think its the right kind of discussion to be having, which is: how do we get education to work the way it needs to work for American families?

Rosensweig discussed a variety of other related issues, including online education, student loans, employment rates and increasing access, adding that the challenge [of the proposed program] isthat Im not sure Congress is likely to pass it.

A video of the full interview is available here.

Rosensweig was named the 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year by TechAmerica, the leading technology association in the United States. Prior to joining Chegg which specializes in online textbook rentals, homework help, scholarships, course reviews and internship matching Rosensweig was president and chief executive officer of Activision Blizzards Guitar Hero franchise. His professional life has been focused in media communications and Internet industries, including roles as chief operating officer of Yahoo!, president of CNET, and chief executive officer of ZDNET. In addition to his significant career, Rosensweig participates on the advisory board of the non-profit DonorsChoose.org and is former co-chair of the ONE Campaign to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty.

In 2008, he dedicated the Rosensweig Learning Commons at HWS. Located on the first floor of the Warren Hunting Smith Library, the Rosensweig Learning Commons has revolutionized the ways in which students and faculty members interact with one another and with information. He has addressed the campus during the Presidents Forum Speaker series, and has served on the Colleges Board of Trustees.

During his time as a Hobart student, Rosensweig was a political science major, a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, and studied abroad in London.