Perry’s tuition proposals generally appealing

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Austin American-Statesman:

 

 

Posted: 12:48 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012

 

Perry’s tuition proposals generally appealing

 

 

By Editorial Board

 

Gov. Rick Perry has been out and about again pitching proposals for universities to make tuition more affordable and setting his higher education priorities for the legislative session that begins in January.

 

Perry restated his ideas at Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas on Monday: freeze tuition rates for four years for incoming freshmen, give students and parents more information regarding tuition pricing, link 10 percent of a university’s state funding to graduation rates and other performance measures rather than enrollment, and create four-year bachelor’s degrees that cost no more than $10,000.

 

Freezing tuition rates for four years for incoming freshmen at state universities is, in general, a good idea. Universities should at least consider offering a tuition freeze as an option if the Legislature balks at mandating it. No doubt, a deadline on a tuition freeze would give students an incentive to complete their bachelor’s degrees in four years. It wouldn’t lower tuition rates — they might continue to rise each year for each incoming class — but it would make the cost of college more predictable.