ALEC calls for $10k option from all public higher ed

The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council is out with the agenda for its July meeting in Dallas and it looks like the education committee will be weighing some provocative proposals. Members will consider endorsing a model bill called the “Affordable Baccalaureate Degree Act,” which would require all public universities to offer degree programs that cost less than $10,000 total for all four years of tuition, fees and books. What’s more, the bill would mandate that at least 10 percent of all four-year degrees awarded at state schools meet that price point within four years of the act’s passage. Universities would be encouraged to use online education and shift to competency-based models rather than the traditional credit-hour model to keep costs down. If members endorse the bill, they will begin circulating and promoting it in state legislatures.