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Higher ed modernization could save millions

By Brandon Dutcher · Wed, Sep 12, 2012 12:30 PM CDT
education , higher education , modernization , and Texas Public Policy Institute

“Oklahoma taxpayers are saving more than $60 million each year due to a series of reforms approved by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed into law during the past few years,” according to a press release issued yesterday by state Rep. Jason Murphey, chairman of the House Government Modernization Committee.

The headline, “Reforms Save Millions, Millions More Possible,” is altogether true—especially if policymakers heed Rep. Murphey’s modernization recommendations for another expensive area of state government: higher education.

Our friends at the Texas Public Policy Foundation launched a new website today—SeeThruEdu.com—featuring daily content from higher-education observers nationwide. In my inaugural article (“Prescient Lawmaker Challenges Higher Ed Groupthink”), I spotlight some of Rep. Murphey’s ideas on getting Oklahoma’s higher-education spending under control.

The disruptive innovation continues apace—The New York Times reported last week that Colorado State University will now offer college credit for MOOCs (massive open online courses)—and there’s nothing higher education officials can do to put the genie back in the bottle. Modernization is coming to higher education.