Or maybe Governor Goodhair is not so dumb:
Texas's 'Impossible' $10K Degree Marches On
http://www.realclearpolicy.com/blog/2014/04/18/texass_impossible_10k_degree_marches_on_916.htmlPerry may have launched a revolution of his own. Perry challenged Texas's public universities to craft four-year degrees costing no more than $10,000 in tuition, fees, and books, and to achieve the necessary cost reductions by teaching students online and awarding degrees based on competency.
The idea met with skepticism.
One year after the governor's challenge, Texas A&M-San Antonio became the first school to answer the call, announcing a bachelor's degree in information technology costing students just under $10,000 in tuition and fees. Today, eleven other Texas schools have announced $10,000 degree initiatives.
The burgeoning revolution has not been confined to the Lone Star State.
The rapid expansion of $10,000 degree offerings has not satisfied the "It's impossible" critics. They note that the fledgling programs are limited to a few subject areas, mostly the applied sciences, and argue that the same model cannot work in other fields.
the $10,000 degree programs that reduced the price charged to the student but not the cost incurred by the school did not employ the means Perry specified -- online learning and competency-based exams.
That's changing. Three higher-education partners -- Texas A&M University-Commerce, South Texas College, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) -- just launched the "Affordable Baccalaureate Program," the state's first public university bachelor's degree combining online learning and competency-based standards.
Will this latest salvo strike the decisive blow in the revolution? It is too early to tell. But a few facts we know too well. One study finds that average tuition and fees nationwide have risen 440 percent over the past 25 years, roughly four times the rate of inflation and nearly twice the rate of health-care cost growth.
Ever since Perry took office, the commonest attack on him is that he is stupid. I wonder what that makes the Democrats, since he has beaten them like a drum in every single election for governor?
This issue and initiative is such a win-win for Perry, Republicans, and conservatives:
1. It gets aspiring folks/families who want their kids to get a degree favorably disposed toward minimalist gov't solutions.
2. It makes the current higher ed infrastructure innovate to provide it.
3. It will eventually cut a huge hunk of hide & flesh from the leftist academy, especially the competency tests.
4. The competency tests will undermine racialist gov't and corporate affirmative action / diversity initiatives.