If Texas college students have to take classes online, they shouldn’t face extra fees
Texas universities, like other institutions, are feeling the pinch of the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue is down, new costs are coming along and no one knows what the future holds for enrollment and state funding.
But there’s something unseemly in organizations with multimillion-dollar budgets — and in some cases, billions in investment reserves — charging the same prices for an unquestionably diminished college experience online. And what’s particularly galling is, as the Texas Tribune recently detailed, distance-learning fees slapped on top.
One student the Tribune profiled had hit a maximum of $315 in fees for five online courses at the University of North Texas. She’s paying extra for doing the right thing and reducing the COVID-19 risk for herself and others.
The fees are not new, but students are rightfully frustrated that they can’t get a break on them, let alone reduced tuition for online courses, under the circumstances. University officials note that distance learning brings additional expense, such as new technology, and they don’t save on labor or other costs when classes shift online.
While the evidence is overwhelming that going to college greatly enhances future earning potential, young people saddled with huge loans or scraping to get by while working and going to school, must be wondering if it’s worth it.
They, too, are caught in the economic calamity brought on by the pandemic. Many have lost jobs, or their parents have, and some may have already sunk costs into the new college year, such as rent, only to find out they could have taken their courses from home.
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The problem is intensified because it comes after years of unreasonable increases in the cost to get a college degree. Published tuition rates at public universities have doubled in the last 20 years (and yes, that’s adjusted for inflation), according to a new report from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank. There are myriad reasons why, including an arms race to add student-attracting amenities.
An additional factor is declining support from the state. Texas deregulated tuition in 2003, one of several steps taken to deal with a budget shortfall that year. There’s little chance that will change next year, given the likelihood of an even bigger gap to fill, thanks to the pandemic recession.
But lawmakers should explore other steps to ease the burden on students. For one, it could order a study on best practices for online learning and incentivize universities to offer better classes — particularly if the added fees survive.
After all, expanded online courses have long been touted as a game-changer that can reduce costs and spread the availability of higher education. As we’re all learning, though, Zoom meetings are hardly a way to feel immersed in a gathering. For distance learning to fulfill its potential, a better model has to emerge.
For years predating the coronavirus, higher-education observers have wondered how best to achieve a well-educated and adaptable workforce without funneling students to ever-increasing loads of debt. So, it’s not fair to expect our universities to have it all figured out during the pandemic.
But they can ease burdens of things such as fees tacked on to the only way some students can take some courses. After all, sometimes it’s the little things.