<p>I know several successful people, including my uncle, who attended Angelo State. Is it Harvard? No. But for those in West Texas who are first generation, it’s a much-needed lifeline and often the first step in higher education.</p>
<p>Agreed, YDS. I find that a student usually gets the level of education he’s looking for. If he goes to Angelo State, he’s excited about learning, he’s passionate about his field and his studies, he’ll do well, study hard, learn a lot and probably be a very productive member of society, not at all mediocre. Mediocre is as mediocre does.</p>
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<p>I do not know anything about the calibur of the students or teachers. But, there is a reasonable way to measure their “caliber” through comparative data. For students, looking at the admission criteria might be a reasonable proxy. For teachers, looking at where the they earned their “stripes” might work, but looking at the curriculum speaks volume. </p>
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<p>I did not make such assertion. Neither did I imply antything close to that. Feel free to read my post again.</p>
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<p>Did you miss this: “Angelo State is hardly an exception. We have plenty of such colleges in Texas. It just came up in this story.”</p>
<p>“You are right that “that not everyone aims for a top college” is a problem in our system of education.”</p>
<p>Why should everyone aim for top 20? Why should people not work as hard as they can and do the very best they can - even if it means they will never go to a top 20 school and they know it - either for monetary or academic reasons?</p>
<p>Trying to understand where you’re coming from. And then when you use inflammatory language such as “vicious cycle of mediocrity” and link it to regular regional state institutions you shouldn’t be too surprised if some find it offensive. </p>
<p>And NO, I didn’t miss that you also insulted multiple “such colleges” in the same manner - you just happened to mention this one by name, since that was the example used in the article.</p>
<p>I may be in the minority here, but being a close observer of Texas politics for decades, I am guessing that the whole scheme is intended to make it easier for Texas to cut its funding for higher education even further, and that the quality of education in the degree programs offered by the schools that participate in this 10K degree plan will fall, regardless of what one believes about the current quality of education offered at such schools.</p>
<p>Yes, that. ^^^^</p>
<p>True - could be.</p>
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<p>Oh, I see that I got lost in the double negations. I was agreeing with “I don’t think the problem with our system of education is that not everyone aims for a top college” but wrote a confusing sentence. I will blame the iPad for that one!</p>
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<p>I have not insulted those schools in general. Only their continuous ability of operate a school of education that sends below average students to our schools. </p>
<p>Now, let’s be clear that I make no apologies for writing that schools of education a la Angelo State contribute to cycles of mediocrity. The French have a great say, "Il n’y a que la v</p>
<p>xiggi - oh. Well I thought I saw some conflicting statements within your posts. That makes more sense. I guess it’s easy to make a typing error.</p>
<p>My entire undergraduate education costs in the whereabouts of $10,000 so it’s feasible if you attend a commuter, public college.</p>
<p>So the $10,000 degree is a Quebecer reality.</p>
<p>It used to be closer to the truth here too. As you can see by the diagram in the article, tuition costs have risen dramatically over the past few years, and as many others have mentioned, so has the cost of room and board, fees, books, etc.</p>
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<p>Just to show you how my D did on her sophomore year PSAT, the school that has sent her the most recruiting materials is Angelo State. LOL.</p>
<p>Catria, not here. The cheapest college where I live is just over $8k/year in tuition… and definitely not commutable for most students who are even eligible to pay those “low” rates!</p>
<p>The devil is in the details:</p>
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<p>My heart sinks a bit at the restriction to the one degree, which is made up of three minors of the student’s choice.</p>