Robert Pratt
John Steinmetz is a Texas Tech regent and, through the bank for which he is president, a sponsor of Pratt on Texas in our Lubbock market. And for those of you elsewhere who don’t know him, he’s a much younger man than you’d think. Last I checked, John still makes payments on his student loans.
This week, while I was covering the on-going scandals at the University of Texas, he sent me an email and the subject was: I have a question for your listeners.
“Why is an affordable education so unpopular with so many Austin. As regents isn’t it our duty to see that our future leaders have access to an education that doesn’t bury them in debt? Think about this folks: If they can’t afford to pay their student loans how are they ever going to buy a vehicle, home or your goods and services?,” Steinmetz asked.
Why is an affordable education so unpopular with so many Austin. As regents isn’t it our duty to see that our future leaders have access to an education that doesn’t bury them in debt?
And a very good question it is considering the constant tuition and fee increases at our state colleges and universities which were, if you didn’t know, created for the very purpose of providing a more affordable, taxpayer subsidized higher education alternative to the long existing private schools. These days many state schools cost more than do private.
I answered John’s email by writing: “Because legislators get fat-cat cushy jobs at college and university systems. Who would want to eliminate bureaucracy and lower administrator salaries when one has a chance of snagging such a job! Plus there is the same attitude that exists locally with bond issues and similar. Many people, especially the civic cheerleader crowd, think that everyone can afford what they can.”
State university systems should be forced by the legislature to drastically reduce administrative overhead at the system and campus levels and the focus should return to teaching, not becoming quasi R&D departments for private industry.
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