The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has launched a new degree program aimed at making college affordable.
The Texas Affordable Baccalaureate Degree Program has been in the works since it’s conception in 2011 when it was one of the needs Gov. Rick Perry expressed during his State of the State Address. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board announced they had finished designing that program this week.
Higher Education Commissioner Dr. Raymond Paredes said the new degree program allows students to complete the required courses more quickly that an average college course.
"And this will accelerate the time to a degree and will also result in lower cost to the student and the institution," Paredes said.
Paredes said the state has partnered with South Texas College in McAllen and Texas A&M University in Commerce. He said the program centers around one degree students can earn.
"It’s a degree in organizational leadership, which is kind of a generic degree that we surveying employers was the most fundamental degree that leaders were looking for," Paredes said.
The degree is similar to what students would take for a bachelor's of business administration.
Paredes said the cost for this new degree is about half of what it would cost to attend a four-year university, running between $13,000-$15,000.
