Texplainer: Will Budget Cuts Mean Higher Tuition?
Hey, Texplainer: If budgets are being cut, how much will tuition be going up at Texas universities?
In the wake of well-documented budget woes, the state Legislature took a more than 9 percent chunk out of higher education funding for public universities and colleges in the recent session.
In June, shortly after the budget decisions were made at the Capitol, the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents called a special meeting in Dallas. It approved a 5.9 percent increase in tuition and fees for Texas Tech University in Lubbock, and a 9.9 percent increase for Angelo State ...
Comments (23)
Rosey Ramos Abuabara via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Yup.. For sur.. Making sur education is for the wealthy only.
Matthew Whitt via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Uh not really. More and more money has been spent on education and yet the cost has risen higher and faster than inflation. Just look at government backed student loans.
A B
Fire deadwood faculty before you increase the tuition!
The students must not pay these faculty losers.
Jennifer E.
Who are the deadweight faculty? How much of university budgets actually go to faculty salaries?
A B
How much of university budgets go to useless trailing spouses??
Tax payers should not pay for the deadwood faculty, they must be fired.
No productivity, no job, no tuition increase to pay for losers' salaries. Get rid of deadwood!
poryorick
@Matthew You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Over the last 30 years, higher ed funding has been cut by almost 40%, so, no, "More and more money has" not "been spent on education." Less and less has, and the 2003 bill to deregulate tuition signed by Governor Perry was what caused tuition to rise at a higher rate than inflation.
Hello, people. Guess what? If you want cheap public universities, then you need to pony up the money (preferably in the form of a state income tax) for them. That's your only realistic solution to the tuition problem.
Jennifer E.
So AB, who are they? What are the specific numbers??
How do you know they are deadweight?
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Jennifer E, the deadwood faculty are the ones who didn't publish ANYTHING in the last two years, are on Facebook all day long, the trailing spouses who were hired because the sugar daddy was hired, etc.....
Let's get rid of deadwood before we increase the tuition!
Why do you want tax payers pay for these losers?
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People want Higher Education Reform in Texas.
http://action.freedomworks.org/4327/higher-education-reform-texas-now/?src=july22
"Perpetuating this wasteful spending are the “Edu-crats”, a ruling elite of academics focused on doing less, but making more, all the while ignoring the needs of students and caring nothing for the cost born by the taxpayers."
Jennifer E.
Is there a report that lists these deadweight faculty? You make bold claims, but do you have any facts?
Jennifer E.
And where are the numbers from this article coming from?
The standard teaching load is 2 classes per semester, and time spent teaching in the classroom doesn't represent all the work that goes into the class.
Faculty salaries have NOT increased pass the rate of inflation. Texas faculty salaries have always been below peer schools' salaries. The fact that they are catching up is a good thing.
Faculty are hired to do teaching, research, and service. You want to criticize them for doing their job?
Karen Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Yes, at A&M.
Mike Openshaw via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Here is a graph showing that Higher education is COMPLETELY out of line with anything reasonable: http://blog.american.com/2011/07/chart-of-the-day-the-higher-education-bubble/
Marissa Stewart via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Way to go, Matthew. Apparently more and more bachelor's degrees still do not confer basic knowledge like artificially propping up demand will cause prices to rise.
Jennifer E.
Mike, that just shows tuition all over the country, including private colleges (which already have extraordinarily high tuition).
Any specific data on Texas universities and colleges?
Philip Harris
In light of budget cuts, these universities should look for ways to increase efficiency and transparency, and lower the cost of higher education so that students don't have to bear the brunt of higher tuition and increased debt.
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Texas A&M Health Science Center is very well known for hiring trailing spouses. Why do these losers teach to our kids?
If you want to increase tuition, bring faculty who can teach. I don't want to pay a stupid trailing spouse who cannot get anything publish.... How can this loser teach?
Show us your productivity if you want to get paid more!!! The students should not pay more for their tuition, enough is enough.
Jennifer E.
Philip, what if colleges and universities already are as efficient as they can be? At what point do you sacrifice quality?
What about community colleges that are receiving less funds? They are already efficient institutions to begin with.
In light of state cuts, students should live within their means and choose community colleges. They are more affordable.
Jennifer E.
"It is very well known".... really? That's your proof?
Texas A&M Health Science Center largely offers graduate degrees. What does that have to do with tuition at Texas A&M University?
Spousal hires are not full professors. They're adjuncts, and they're hired just to teach. Where is your proof that any of them can't teach?
Show us your productivity? What on earth makes you think that universities aren't productive? Where is your proof that productivity is even a problem? Show me proof that you're not a Russian spy!
Yes, you are right that tuition shouldn't go up. Tell your representatives to increase state funding.
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Jennifer E., you said "Spousal hires are not full professors. They're adjuncts, and they're hired just to teach."
This isn't true. Husband (full prof.) and wife (assist. prof.) hired by the SAME department at Texas A&M HSC. They both were hired to do research, but no one publish anything from their own lab in two years.
The younger wife, the trailing spouse, will get tenure because her husband will vote for her tenure!!
Is this fair to another faculty who has his/her spouse working for another department / university?
As an assistant professor, she should teach to medical students. Why should students pay for higher tuition? Why do they pay a trailing spouse to teach them? The students should pay less tuition when their instructor has no credentials. Every parent wants the best for their child when it comes to education. I am against increasing tuition before cleaning this hiring mess.
Jennifer E.
I really have no clue what particular case you are talking about. Boo hoo. Some research takes longer. Bring it up with an academic dean. This case has nothing to do with undergraduate education in Texas.
She should teach to medical students? You mean she should teach medical students. Tuition at the medical center has nothing to do with other schools. You are confusing institutions.
Again, if you are so concerned, bring your concerns to the dean.
A B
My friends from UK sent me this piece of news today:
Hundreds of funded PhDs and Masters courses cut
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14309883
Jennifer E.
"These cuts in PhD and Masters places will have a devastating and profound impact on the range, depth and quality of advanced research, innovation and study taking place in Britain's universities."