Lone Star College Bond Proposal: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt by Kyle Scott
By Kyle Scott, PhD
In 2008, Lone Star College System (LSCS) administrators and the board of trustees asked voters to approve a bond of more than $400 million. And now they are asking voters to add an additional $500 million in new debt. This would run the total new bond debt to almost $1 billion in only five years. And before any new debt is added, LSCS currently has more than $590 billion in both bond and taxpayer supported debt outstanding.
According to LSCS, the need for new revenue is in anticipation of rapid growth. But LSCS has overestimated the rate of growth it will experience in order to secure more funding. LSCS expects enrollment to reach 110,000 students by 2018 while the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board expects enrollment to only be at 81,000 by 2020.
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