Tuition trouble
Flat rate cuts athletics scholarships

Members of the TCU athletic department, coaches and athletes are among the newest group of people stepped on by the new flat-rate tuition plan the university will enact in the fall.

According to Jack Hesselbrock, associate athletics director for internal relations, the athletic department faces changes in the way athletes’ scholarships are distributed based on the changes in tuition.

These challenges are likely to be temporary and can even be expected during a transition period, but TCU’s solution to the problem will unfortunately create only a larger problem.

Under the current plan, scholarships will be adjusted proportionately for the increase in the tuition. What this means is athletes who previously would have received scholarships based on a 12-hour semester will now receive scholarships based on 15 hours.

Sure, this seems fair, but it’s a waste of money.

Most athletes currently take only 12 hours a semester because their sports place time restraints on how much time they can spend in the classroom. All the time they put into their classes, expected study hours and available tutoring — all while maintaining eligibility — must be balanced with their sports commitments.

They manage this task at 12 hours, but what makes the university think they can manage it at 15?

The truth is, they probably won’t, and it will not be expected by their coaches.

Still, the university will be allotting enough money to cover the 15 hours. The money for those three hours will be wasted.

It’s money that could be used by the athletic department to offer more scholarships, perhaps to individuals that walk on to teams each season.

With the current plan, however, these walk-ons will be the first ones to suffer.

TCU owes the athletic department a better solution so that when signing day comes around Wednesday, none of the new recruits will be wondering whether they really got the best deal.

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