• The KillerFrogs

TCU’s ROI

Mr. Bigglesworth

Active Member
I’ve done quite a bit of thinking on this and as a relatively new grad whats TCU’s ROI? Overall, TCU was a great experience for me. I was enrolled during the heyday of their athletics program, however now that we are seemingly offering a subpar athletic experience and we are fine with it would I love the tcu experience as much? I think the answer would be no. My favorite memories of my time at school are going to the big games and being competitive (mostly winning). So I asked myself would I send my future kids to TCU and I firmly believe that answer is no. $60k+/yr for a degree that really doesn’t move the needle and now an athletic program that is fine with mediocrity. Just some random Sunday musings but I won’t be stepping a foot into the stadium until Gary is gone.
 
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TCU2002

Active Member
Maybe I'll write this essay someday, but the end of the Patterson era will mark the end of an era of wasted possibility.

TCU could have leveraged the gift of an excellent football program - an unbelievable front porch into the university offering exposure and prominence that could never have been bought - into becoming an *excellent* university. Instead, TCU was content to become a more *popular* university. Which isn't anywhere near the same thing, and is fleeting.

The shine will wear off, and TCU will be left with a cost of attendance that is out of reach for its core users, those who truly love (or would come to love) the university for its distinctive character and mission. The crowd that for a time was willing to pay the high tuition prices because TCU had become a "winners" school will move on to other options.

I am more pessimistic about the future of the university than I have been at any time since I enrolled. Ironically enough, that was in 1998, the very start of this ride. I am grateful to be in my 40s now, at a stage in my family and career that draws my attention away from my earlier all-consuming passion for college sports (and TCU sports in particular), because that is softening the blow.

I feel for those who are around 30 right now, who were 20 when the Rose Bowl happened and believed it would all last. I would be crushed if I were in your shoes.
 
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Frogs1983

Full Member
Maybe I'll write this essay someday, but the end of the Patterson era will mark the end of an era of wasted possibility.

TCU could have leveraged the gift of excellent football program - and unbelievable front porch into the university that could never have been bought - into becoming an *excellent* university. Instead, TCU was content to become a more *popular* university. Which isn't anywhere near the same thing, and is fleeting.

The shine will wear off, and TCU will be left with a cost of attendance that is out of reach for its core users, those who truly love (or would come to love) the university for its distinctive character and mission. The crowd that for a time was willing to pay the high tuition prices because TCU had become a "winners" school will move on to other options.

I am more pessimistic about the future of the university than I have been at any time since I enrolled. Ironically enough, that was in 1998, the very start of this ride. I am grateful to be in my 40s now, at a stage in my family and career that draws my attention away from my earlier all-consuming passion for college sports (and TCU sports in particular), because that is softening the blow.

I feel for those who are around 30 right now, who were 20 when the Rose Bowl happened and believed it would all last. I would be crushed if I were in your shoes.
Been around TCU football since late 60's so I have seen a LOT worse than current situation, by far. That being said, not willing to 'settle" for current mediocrity after the millions of dollars thrown at the Program, new Stadium, facilities, etc.. TCU had an opportunity to be a "player" in College Football, and for a brief time they were. Now, Patterson has erased that status and TCU is once again an after thought in College Football.
 

Dogfrog

Active Member
Small expensive private universities need to attract students through excellent academics and through the excitement of excellent athletics.

I’m an old. I paid $1800 per year tuition at TCU. This was a time when TCU was in the SWC but really sucked at football. Our admin was thrilled to be in the SWC, believing this notoriety attracted applicants. The year I entered, TCU did not fill its freshman year allotment (probably how I got in). And TCU admin believed our conference affiliation was forever.

The only real notoriety we received was as losers. TCU admin never seemed to understand that. But the Big 12 understood it and walked away from us in 1996.

What Patterson has brought us helped make everything possible. Including the beautiful, practically new campus. I will be forever grateful to Gary for the true notoriety he has brought to my alma mater. And IMO he has earned every penny he has been paid.

But a small expensive school like TCU cannot afford to take a step back.
 

tcumaniac

Full Member
I’ve done quite a bit of thinking on this and as a relatively new grad whats TCU’s ROI? Overall, TCU was a great experience for me. I was enrolled during the heyday of their athletics program, however now that we are seemingly offering a subpar athletic experience and we are fine with it would I love the tcu experience as much? I think the answer would be no. My favorite memories of my time at school are going to the big games and being competitive (mostly winning). So I asked myself would I send my future kids to TCU and I firmly believe that answer is no. $60k+/yr for a degree that really doesn’t move the needle and now an athletic program that is fine with mediocrity. Just some random Sunday musings but I won’t be stepping a foot into the stadium until Gary is gone.
I share a lot of this exact sentiment. I loved my time at TCU. Our football team went 13-0, won the rose bowl, joined the big 12, and went to the CWS among other things while I was there. The success of our athletic department was a huge part of my TCU experience. I also met my wife, made life long friends, and graduated with a good degree from the business school with no student debt. I received a really good academic scholarship and was lucky enough to have parents that paid for the rest. My TCU experience was phenomenal and I would never question whether I should have gone somewhere else.

BUT I wouldn’t, in good faith, advocate to anyone that TCU is worth the cost of admission today. Unless you receive significant scholarship that covers enough tuition to make it similar in cost to alternatives, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to send their child there. It just isn’t worth it. Our athletic program is on a sharp decline and the school is radically changing too. I fear that Victor Boschini is one of the last semblances of sanity left at our university, and once he retires, TCU will spiral into a woke mess of overpriced irrelevancy.
 

hiphopfroggy

Active Member
Maybe I'll write this essay someday, but the end of the Patterson era will mark the end of an era of wasted possibility.

TCU could have leveraged the gift of excellent football program - and unbelievable front porch into the university that could never have been bought - into becoming an *excellent* university. Instead, TCU was content to become a more *popular* university. Which isn't anywhere near the same thing, and is fleeting.

The shine will wear off, and TCU will be left with a cost of attendance that is out of reach for its core users, those who truly love (or would come to love) the university for its distinctive character and mission. The crowd that for a time was willing to pay the high tuition prices because TCU had become a "winners" school will move on to other options.

I am more pessimistic about the future of the university than I have been at any time since I enrolled. Ironically enough, that was in 1998, the very start of this ride. I am grateful to be in my 40s now, at a stage in my family and career that draws my attention away from my earlier all-consuming passion for college sports (and TCU sports in particular), because that is softening the blow.

I feel for those who are around 30 right now, who were 20 when the Rose Bowl happened and believed it would all last. I would be crushed if I were in your shoes.
Bro we got a medical school out if it, could not have paid off anymore than that. Well except for Ferrari passing on the law school but not sure they could have opened the law school and the medical school back to back but they sure should have.
 

hiphopfroggy

Active Member
I share a lot of this exact sentiment. I loved my time at TCU. Our football team went 13-0, won the rose bowl, joined the big 12, and went to the CWS among other things while I was there. The success of our athletic department was a huge part of my TCU experience. I also met my wife, made life long friends, and graduated with a good degree from the business school with no student debt. I received a really good academic scholarship and was lucky enough to have parents that paid for the rest. My TCU experience was phenomenal and I would never question whether I should have gone somewhere else.

BUT I wouldn’t, in good faith, advocate to anyone that TCU is worth the cost of admission today. Unless you receive significant scholarship that covers enough tuition to make it similar in cost to alternatives, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to send their child there. It just isn’t worth it. Our athletic program is on a sharp decline and the school is radically changing too. I fear that Victor Boschini is one of the last semblances of sanity left at our university, and once he retires, TCU will spiral into a woke mess of overpriced irrelevancy.
lol yea the only good schools in the country are Bama, Ohio St, Clemson and OU because the best way to pick your University is by the success of the football team.
 

Toad Jones

Active Member
Small expensive private universities need to attract students through excellent academics and through the excitement of excellent athletics.

I’m an old. I paid $1800 per year tuition at TCU. This was a time when TCU was in the SWC but really sucked at football. Our admin was thrilled to be in the SWC, believing this notoriety attracted applicants. The year I entered, TCU did not fill its freshman year allotment (probably how I got in). And TCU admin believed our conference affiliation was forever.

The only real notoriety we received was as losers. TCU admin never seemed to understand that. But the Big 12 understood it and walked away from us in 1996.

What Patterson has brought us helped make everything possible. Including the beautiful, practically new campus. I will be forever grateful to Gary for the true notoriety he has brought to my alma mater. And IMO he has earned every penny he has been paid.

But a small expensive school like TCU cannot afford to take a step back.
I so agree with your post! Athletics is primarily responsible for the new look campus and national notoriety!! This program stumbled five years ago and it has become a serious problem in Oct 21. I know some of you are really concerned that, if something is not addressed soon, our transfer portal will be a national embarrassment and future recruits will not consider TCU. That is worrisome.
 

Mr. Bigglesworth

Active Member
Maybe I'll write this essay someday, but the end of the Patterson era will mark the end of an era of wasted possibility.

TCU could have leveraged the gift of excellent football program - an unbelievable front porch into the university that could never have been bought - into becoming an *excellent* university. Instead, TCU was content to become a more *popular* university. Which isn't anywhere near the same thing, and is fleeting.

The shine will wear off, and TCU will be left with a cost of attendance that is out of reach for its core users, those who truly love (or would come to love) the university for its distinctive character and mission. The crowd that for a time was willing to pay the high tuition prices because TCU had become a "winners" school will move on to other options.

I am more pessimistic about the future of the university than I have been at any time since I enrolled. Ironically enough, that was in 1998, the very start of this ride. I am grateful to be in my 40s now, at a stage in my family and career that draws my attention away from my earlier all-consuming passion for college sports (and TCU sports in particular), because that is softening the blow.

I feel for those who are around 30 right now, who were 20 when the Rose Bowl happened and believed it would all last. I would be crushed if I were in your shoes.
This take is extremely spot on and depresses me severely. The university has grown complacent
 

JAB331

Active Member
Academics are suffering too. When the football team was good during it's first few years in the Big XII, enrollment was up and the university could be selective. Now we're barely in the top 100 schools and SMU is harder to get in to (also corresponded with their football success).
 

Rabidfrog

Active Member
Academics are suffering too. When the football team was good during it's first few years in the Big XII, enrollment was up and the university could be selective. Now we're barely in the top 100 schools and SMU is harder to get in to (also corresponded with their football success).
SMU has always been harder to get into.
 

Brog

Full Member
Academics are suffering too. When the football team was good during it's first few years in the Big XII, enrollment was up and the university could be selective. Now we're barely in the top 100 schools and SMU is harder to get in to (also corresponded with their football success).

Academics is suffering? If you really think TCU can't be selective anymore, you ought to work in the Admissions office a week or two. We get FAR more applicants for the Freshman class than we can admit. So how else do you define Academics?That word usually applies to course quality and faculty quality, so you must have some info showing that these two things have declined.
 

JAB331

Active Member
Academics is suffering? If you really think TCU can't be selective anymore, you ought to work in the Admissions office a week or two. We get FAR more applicants for the Freshman class than we can admit. So how else do you define Academics?That word usually applies to course quality and faculty quality, so you must have some info showing that these two things have declined.
Based on university rankings by U.S. News & World Report

SMU has always been harder to get into.

Incorrect, our acceptance rate has been way lower than theirs for awhile now
 
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