Community Colleges Need to Return to Their Mission by Kyle Scott

At the February meeting of the Lone Star College (LSC) Board of Trustees, the board voted unanimously to put a new $500 million bond issue on the May 11 ballot. This would increase LSC’s total debt to over $1 billion. Most people have become accustomed to large debts run up by our elected officials and have become numb to the fiscal irresponsibility that lies behind the debt. It would be one thing had the debt been used to increase educational opportunities for the students, but indeed it has not. Rather, the money has gone to infrastructure expansion and administrative costs that do not warrant an additional burden on the tax payer or a debt that could affect the tuition rate of students and families who are already hard-pressed to cover costs.
Over the past six years the enrollment at LSC has increased by 89 percent to just over 77,000 students. Unfortunately the faculty has only increased by 11 percent, which has made the student to faculty ratio shift from 17:1 in 2006 to 29:1 in 2012. Education researchers are almost unanimous on the point that smaller class sizes improve student achievement and increase retention rates. Furthermore, between 2006 and 2012 spending directly related to student instruction decreased from 27 percent of total spending to 16 percent of total spending. This decrease in instruction spending and poorer faculty to student ratio occurred during the same time period in which LSC increased its debt by over 150 percent to $583 million.

The money that has been raised by LSC has not disappeared however, it just hasn’t been spent on the students. From 2006-2012 the number of administrative staff has increased by 33 percent compared to the 11 percent faculty growth. Because of the growing student body and growing number of administrators the physical plant (i.e. buildings, property, etc) has increased as well. But again, the administration has seen most of the growth. Physical space used for student activities and instruction has increased by 110 percent over the past six years while space for administrative growth has increased by 170 percent, which gives every administrative worker 446 square feet of workspace.

This growth in spending and debt could be defensible if it is done for the good of the students and the community, but it appears to be done for the good of the administrators. Whatever money is spent or raised must directly relate to student and community development. Programs designed to help students find jobs and internships and improved classroom instruction should be at the top of everyone’s priority list. Community colleges have the potential to improve our community and residents so long as the colleges are not treated like the minor leagues for four-year institutions and administration costs are kept in check. The students and the community must come first.

Editor’s note: Kyle Scott is the author of Federalist Papers: A Reader’s Guide. He teaches American politics and constitutional law at the University of Houston. His commentary on current events has appeared in Forbes, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, Foxnews.com, Huffington Post, and dozens of local outlets including the Orlando Sentinel, Charlotte Observer, Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle and Baltimore Sun. Contact him at kyle.a.scott@hotmail.com; 212 MD Anderson Library, Honors College, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004.