The former Texas politico's jobs outsourcing plan for Texas A&M University kind of shows that. (That said, a kudo to the Texas Tribune for writing a story that could appear even mildly critical of A&M, a "sponsor" of the nonprofit newspaper; of course, the repeated references to the University of Texas' Longhorn Network take that back with the other hand.)
Bigger question is ... why can't A&M save more money elsewhere, and how much of this is a problem with modern universities in general, how much a problem with modern state universities in general, how much a problem at Texas state schools, and how much is specific to A&M?
Some conservatives will say too much college tuition funding inflates education. Wrong; more and more of that today is loans, not grants, when, arguably, big businesses often run by conservatives inflate the need for degrees.
Some communitarian-type liberals will say the "professor as rock star" plus general collegiate competitiveness fueled by things such as Forbes and U.S. News rating lists, is a fair part of the problem. Could be, just as more and more doctors today, in part to pay off loans but more, in many cases, just to be more businessman-like, study/enter specialized medical fields.
Maybe it's administrative salaries, in small part, combined with an academics as business mindset in general.
Anyway, with a school as big as A&M in a relatively small "metro" area like Bryan-College Station, you bet outsourcing could hurt other businesses. As well as employees. What happens after that two-year transition, and will the Trib either ask that now, or in two years?
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