Lawmakers want to rein in Texas universities four years after gutting oversight board Read more h
There might be no more dangerous place for a university official this year than a Texas Capitol committee room.
On several occasions in recent months, a chancellor, university president or regent has sat down at a hearing and been chewed out by lawmakers who were frustrated about rising tuition rates, expensive land purchases or new programs being pursued against the wishes of elected officials.
But left out of those complaints about schools run amok has been a key detail about how that happened in the first place: Just a few years earlier, the Legislature willingly gave Texas universities more freedom.
In 2003, lawmakers opted to give schools full control of their tuition — a move that has been frequently discussed and often lamented in recent years. Ten years later, they made a less prominent but still important decision to defang the state agency that had overseen the universities.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article146328284.html
