The Feb. 7 Other Opinion article "Reality 101 on campus" by Stan Jones makes a great point that cutting a student's time on campus cuts costs. Rather than punishing colleges for raising tuition by cutting federal funding, as President Obama has threatened, perhaps the president should take a page out of his nemesis Texas Gov. Rick Perry's book.
In Texas, students who pay in-state resident tuition at public universities are given a $1,000 rebate upon graduation if they a) complete their degree in four years, and b) attempt no more than three credit hours each semester above the minimum credits required to achieve their degree. Students who are diligent and not taking courses all over the map are rewarded. I've always thought it better to reward success - the Perry plan - rather than punish failure, the Obama idea.
Tal Mangum
