Opinion

Perry's low-cost college plan works

Last year, Gov. Rick Perry challenged Texas universities to create college degree programs that would cost no more than $10,000.

His appeal, made on behalf of our state's lower- and middle-income students, was met with some rational skepticism. In 2011, average tuition and fees for Texas universities were more than $27,000.

Fortunately for Texas students and parents — and Texas taxpayers — the A&M System sought to prove itself worthy of the trust implicit in the governor's exhortation.

Recently, Texas A&M-San Antonio announced a partnership with the Alamo Colleges and local school districts to offer a four-year bachelor's degree that will cost $9,672.

This fall, local high school juniors in the program will begin to take college-level courses culminating in a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Information Technology with an emphasis on information security. After completing high school, they will then study a year at Alamo Colleges, and finish their degree at A&M-San Antonio.

These students will graduate virtually if not entirely free of student-loan debt, and with careers awaiting them with wages averaging between $16 and $40 per hour.

The average student today graduates with $25,000 of student-loan debt. A study published last year by the University of Chicago Press finds that 31 percent of recent college graduates had to move back home with their parents; of those able to find jobs, the majority are making less than $30,000 a year.

The cyber-security degree program is a perfect fit for the San Antonio area, in which the information-technology industry plays a large and growing role. The total economic impact of information technology and cyber business reached $10 billion in the city in 2010.

The A&M System plans to launch two other degree offerings for just under $10,000: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Tarleton State University as well as a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Organizational Leadership that will be offered through A&M-Commerce and South Texas College.

Perry and the A&M Board of Regents have taken their share of ridicule for efforts to make higher education more affordable. But they are succeeding, and we all owe them our gratitude.

Thomas K. Lindsay is the director of the Center for Higher Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.