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Bargains still give us sticker shock
DALLASMORNING NEWS

Tuition rates in Texas remain a bargain. You can attend college here for about $5,300 a year, while the national price tag hovers around $5,800.

But try telling that to Texas parents and students suffering from sticker shock.

Since legislators gave state universities the freedom to set tuition rates in 2003, rates have risen nearly 40 percent.

The average Texan’s finances can absorb only so much escalation, especially in such a short time.

The problem hits beyond individual pocketbooks the state’s economy depends on getting as many students as possible to earn college degrees.

And that’s a financial challenge given the growing number of poor, often Latino, families.

You can’t really blame colleges for the rapid rise. Austin wasn’t funding universities adequately so they are doing what they must in order to retain topnotch professors, meet overhead and grapple with huge classes.

GOP Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano perhaps has come up with a way to satisfy parents and universities.

She wouldn’t strip colleges of the ability to set rates, but the Senate’s education committee chairwoman would cap how much they could charge.

She proposes that the tuition cost remain steady once a student enters college, assuming he or she graduates on time.

While the University of Texas-El Paso already has adopted this policy, some university leaders worry locked-in rates could harm schools during a recession, when the state might cut its funding stream.

But legislators could get around that problem by establishing a trigger.

If, say, a recession hits Texas for several quarters and evidence shows it has hurt schools, legislators would have to find a way to make up the difference.

While trying to find the right balance, lawmakers also should replenish funds to the state GO program, authored by Dallas Democratic Rep. Helen Giddings.

Since 2003, GO has helped 28,000 students wade through the complicated process of applying for college loans.

Unfortunately, the program has run out of money.

From tuition controls to the nitty-gritty of application papers, we’re heartened by options that keep the college graduate pipeline unobstructed.