FreedomWorks to Co-Host Press Conference for Texas Higher Education Reform

WHAT: FreedomWorks will be co-hosting a press conference at the Texas state capitol building tomorrow at 10am CT with limited-government allies to bring awareness to the wasteful and abusive practices of Texas higher education institutions. Other members of the coalition include America’s Next Impact, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, Young Conservatives of Texas, and the UT College Republicans.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 23, 2011, beginning at 10:00am CT.

WHERE: Speaker’s Committee Room (2W.6) in the Texas state capitol building, 1100 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX, 78701.

WHY: A recent FreedomWorks Foundation study found that the quality of higher education is dropping across the state of Texas, with costs to students and taxpayers growing at a rate far outpacing inflation. The average cost of education at a four year university in Texas has gone up by 34 percent over the last decade –mostly due to high salaries, tenured faculty benefits, unnecessary research projects, higher than necessary student-to-faculty ratios, and costly new facilities.

A majority of donations received by colleges are not used to lower tuition, but rather to finance new spending on campus. Thanks to tenure, unproductive professors receive the same benefits as superior educators, decreasing the incentive to do more work than the minimum.

“The cost of higher education in Texas exceeds the national average, while graduation rates drop embarrassingly below 50 percent,” commented Amanda Shell, Campaigns staffer and graduate of Texas State University.

“Only 28.6 percent of students attending Texas colleges and universities will finish their degree in four years. Clearly, students are paying more for less. FreedomWorks will be participating in the press conference to remind these universities that their mission should be to advance the education of students, not to advance the interests of the academic establishment.”

###