Fiscally Responsible Education

For the last several decades, the price tag on a college education has increased much, much faster than inflation. The crippling amount of debt that is placed upon graduating college students and their families is astounding.  Because each student from Indiana who goes to an Indiana state college is subsidized by tax dollars, the high cost of education causes our state to face an unnecessary burden. As your State Representative, I plan to introduce legislation that will reduce the cost of higher education for Hoosier students and explore innovative approaches to improve education that many ignore.

We can reduce the amount of tax payer money spent on higher education by reducing the amount of time Indiana students spend in these schools. There are two ways to reduce the time a student spends in college. One way is to have better trained college counselors. Time and again poorly trained counselors fail to provide students with the guidance needed to graduate on time, costing the students and tax payers financially.  Another way of reducing time needed at college is to offer two years of dual credit courses in every high school in Indiana.  Some schools already do this. This will give many students the opportunity to save thousands of dollars by entering college with up to 2 years of college credit already earned. 

Third, there are many professors around the state that collect a paycheck without actually teaching any classes which is why I am in favor of requiring that professors actually instruct at least one class per semester. This will eliminate the need for excess professors on staff and cut down tuition costs.

Fourth, to ensure that all students are given the best opportunity to learn we must require that all teachers be able to speak English effectively before they instruct in Hoosier classrooms.

And lastly, professors cannot have students buy textbooks written by that professor. 

I feel these suggestions will lower the cost of college, while improving our student’s education. What do you think? Click here to answer a survey that will take less than a minute of your time or email me at h49@IN.gov.  

Sincerely,