How will Texas' Rising, low-income majority reach college?!?

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—"
Luke 14:28

TPPF Policy Orientation: Today, the majority of students in K-12 education in Texas are 'low-income'...how are they going to pay for college?!?

Rep Mando Martinez (D - South Texas):

• About 25% of the population in the Rio Grande Valley has 9th grade or less education level

• The trades pay a lot more than liberal arts grads.

Dr. Ronald Towbridge:

• 60% of K-12 students in Texas are 'low-income'

• Hispanics have a higher college graduation percentage than whites.
• 3 recommendations:
• Colleges need to send academic and social advisors into local high schools.
• Develop 'early college' high schools and expand dual-credit courses.
• Encourage the legislature to focus on lower income students and don't give preference to elite schools.
• Why should UT students get a bigger subsidy than community college student?!?

• Re: UT/Houston turf war: Universities aren't supposed to expand duplicative programs.
• "U.T. wants to be a hog and take the money from the University of Houston.

• "An unspoken cartel now governs universities."

• 50% of major university professors don't publish a single article in a year.

• U.T. and A&M begging for money is grotesque.

• Only 20% of the faculty at U.T. ever publishes anything.

Jorge Klor de Alva:

• The longer students are in college, the less likely they are to finish.

• College students HAVE to learn about personal finance.

• Students need "timely and accurate" information about costs.

• When higher ed. institutions fail, students end up in debt and unprepared for the workplace.

• Large University endowments create perverse incentives when they are combined with government subsidies.

• UT-Austin gets $6k per student in annual subsidies from the state.

• Something about tax credits and panels of experts.

Author's Note: This panel did a good job identifying the problem, but they whiffed on the solution; the way to fix higher ed. affordability is to cut off their subsidies at the federal level and have the Texas Legislature repeal tuition 'deregulation.'