by Thanh Tan | Texas Tribune
May 22, 2011
The Texas Legislature made a promise to the state’s most financially needy high school seniors in 1999: Money will not be a barrier to your higher education at a public college or university if you stay out of trouble, complete certain courses and graduate from high school.
The goal was to bridge the gap between wealthier students and those students who are motivated but poor. But as lawmakers in the current legislative session grapple with a huge state budget shortfall, they are threatening to renege on that pledge. Thousands of Texas students have been forced to put their college plans on hold, and inevitably, some will learn their dreams of attending college are financially out of reach.
Since the inception of TEXAS Grants, the financial aid program has helped more than 300,000 students. The grants go to students who are determined to have an estimated family contribution of $4,000 or less. In fiscal year 2011, 74,900 students received awards totaling $340.8 million. Over the next two years, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates an additional 53,000 new high school graduates would be eligible for the award. But while demand for the grant has risen, the money to finance the program has not.
The Texas Legislature has yet to finalize a budget for the coming two years, but the proposals under consideration would slash the grant program. The House’s current plan would cover only about 44,200 renewal students — and would provide no grants for incoming college students. The Senate’s proposal, more likely to be in the final budget, would finance about 77,300 students, including those who already receive aid and some new high school graduates.
(The Tribune has created an interactive to show how much TEXAS Grants funding has been allocated to the state's 94 colleges and universities between 2006 and 2010.)
For students who are eligible to receive a TEXAS Grant this fall, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, those attending a public university or health-related institution are qualified to receive $7,100 per year. Awards for public technical colleges will be $3,540 per year, and $1,890 per year for those attending community colleges..
At Austin High School, in the heart of the capital city, a small group of 18 students have spent four years focusing on getting into college. Now seniors, they were selected as eighth graders to be part of the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, or AVID, which helps impoverished students learn study skills and also navigate the college application process. Nearly every participant in the course is a minority — some come from single-parent households, and others entered the country illegally as young children with their parents. All of them could be the first in their family to receive a four-year college education.
Jose Perez, 18, one of the AVID program members, is feeling firsthand the effects of the possible budget cuts. Teachers describe him as an enthusiastic and brilliant student. Jose was elated this spring when he was accepted to both Texas State University in San Marcos and the University of Texas at San Antonio. But the financial aid packages and scholarships offered to him would not cover the tuition and board at those schools. Then, he learned the Legislature might not fund TEXAS Grants for incoming freshmen.
“I wanted to feel proud that I went to a four-year university,” he said. Now he’s holding out hope that he can cobble together enough financial aid to attend Austin Community College. With his father’s work hours at his tailoring job recently cut and his mother laid off from her job as a seamstress, Jose gives his paycheck from his part-time job at a thrift store to his family instead of saving it for college.
The teenager said he would put his plans to become an aerospace or mechanical engineer on hold — for now. “I want to do something to change the world, because I live under one philosophy: you must give back what you receive,” he said.
Each year, financial aid offices at the state’s 94 public institutions of higher learning determine how they will distribute their allotted TEXAS Grant money. Most students decide by May 1 where they will go in the fall. This year, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board took the unprecedented step of instructing schools to use “cautionary language” in their financial aid offers to students until legislators have set the state budget, or offer state aid “at its own risk.”
In the months since, schools have taken different approaches to deal with the uncertainty. The University of Texas at Austin has opted to not include any TEXAS Grants in offers to freshmen.
Tom Melecki, the director of the Office of Student Financial Services at the University of Texas at Austin, said that for the 2010-2011 school year, more than 1,500 freshmen relied on TEXAS Grants to attend the state’s flagship university. To make matters worse, Melecki said, unless the Legislature changes the program’s rules, students who do not receive a TEXAS Grant in their freshman year cannot receive one thereafter.
“We could easily see the number of low-income freshman that would be trying to come here really diminish,” he said.
Debra Windham, the teacher who recruited Perez to be part of the AVID program at Austin High, said she cried when she learned the TEXAS Grants may not be available for her students. For years, she has promised them that if they made the commitment to work hard, she would help them find a way to pay for college.
“It just never crossed my mind that that money might not be there,” she said. “They’ve done their part and I can’t do mine. The fact is, these kids lives are going to be different.”
But there is hope. Znobea Williams, 18, is so far one of the few students in the class who has found enough financing to move on to a university in the fall. The youngest of four children raised by a single mother, she will be the first to attend college. She was accepted to every school she applied to.
“Every single one of us are here for a reason, because we want to accomplish our goals to go to college,” she said. “But not having that money is a big challenge for our lives because we can’t live our dreams like everyone else can.”
Showing posts with label TEXAS Grant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TEXAS Grant. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Fewer college students to get financial aid under House and Senate proposals
Number of Texas Grant recipients would drop from 86,830 to 27,135
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, Jan. 24, 2011
The Texas Legislature allocated enough money for 86,830 college students to receive the need-based Texas Grant in the current academic year. Under the proposed House and Senate budgets, the number of students receiving the state's main form of financial aid would decline to 27,135 by 2013.
That's because funding would be cut 41 percent, to $366 million, for the upcoming two-year budget, closing the program to students entering college but allowing those already receiving the grant to continue to do so.
The state's other financial aid programs also would take substantial hits. Work-study aid would be cut 41 percent. A scholarship program for students ranking in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes would be cut 79 percent.
All told, spending on financial aid — just over $1 billion in the current two-year budget — would decline by $431 million under the House proposal for 2012-13 and by $381 million under the Senate version, according to the Legislative Budget Board.
Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, who had asked the Legislature to increase financial aid in light of growing enrollment, expressed a mixture of dismay and optimism Monday. He noted that much of the enrollment growth involves students who are poor, the first generation in their families to attend college, and Hispanic or members of other minority groups.
"I am hopeful that we can make a compelling argument that we have an awful lot of poor students coming through the system, and they won't be able to go to college unless we provide some financial aid," Paredes said. "It would be tragic if we have to tell these poor, first-generation students of color as they're showing up in high school graduation classes that we've run out of money."
It's not as if Texas has been generous with financial aid all along. Paredes' agency, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, estimates that only about 70 percent of students meeting financial and academic eligibility requirements currently receive a Texas Grant. That's despite the fact that lawmakers increased spending on financial aid by about 35 percent two years ago.
Thomas Melecki, director of student financial services at the University of Texas, said eliminating Texas Grants for new students would keep some of them from enrolling. Currently, about 4,800 UT students receive a Texas Grant, including about 1,200 freshmen.
UT would try to redirect other grants to students who would otherwise receive a Texas Grant, as well as put more loan money into their financial aid packages, Melecki said. Many low-income students are leery of taking out loans, which, unlike grants, must be repaid.
A Texas Grant can be worth as much as $6,780 a year for a student at one of the state's universities, said Andy Kesling, a spokesman for the Higher Education Coordinating Board. Only students whose families can afford to pay no more than $4,000 toward their education are eligible, he said. The maximum grant for a community college student is $1,780.
Lashaila Mitchum, a sophomore majoring in social work at UT, said of her Texas Grant, "It makes financial hardship a little more sustainable."
She predicted that many students wouldn't apply for admission if the grant program is closed to entering students. "How can you expect people to work, pay taxes and be productive citizens if they can't go to school?" Mitchum said.
Two years ago, the Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness, a panel authorized by the Legislature, noted that insufficient financial aid can prompt students to forgo college or to spend too much time working while they are enrolled. Nationwide, only 8 percent of freshmen who work full time earn a bachelor's degree within six years. In Texas, 35 percent of undergraduates work full time, the commission reported.
Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, referring to GOP majorities in the House and Senate, said: "The Republican budget proposals read like blueprints for making college more expensive. By eliminating financial aid for new students, and pushing up tuition through cuts to colleges, the Republican proposals would put higher education and high-paying jobs out of reach for tens of thousands of young Texans."
GOP leaders say the proposals are intended to ensure that the state lives within its means. The proposals avoid new taxes and use of the rainy day fund.
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, Jan. 24, 2011
The Texas Legislature allocated enough money for 86,830 college students to receive the need-based Texas Grant in the current academic year. Under the proposed House and Senate budgets, the number of students receiving the state's main form of financial aid would decline to 27,135 by 2013.
That's because funding would be cut 41 percent, to $366 million, for the upcoming two-year budget, closing the program to students entering college but allowing those already receiving the grant to continue to do so.
The state's other financial aid programs also would take substantial hits. Work-study aid would be cut 41 percent. A scholarship program for students ranking in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes would be cut 79 percent.
All told, spending on financial aid — just over $1 billion in the current two-year budget — would decline by $431 million under the House proposal for 2012-13 and by $381 million under the Senate version, according to the Legislative Budget Board.
Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, who had asked the Legislature to increase financial aid in light of growing enrollment, expressed a mixture of dismay and optimism Monday. He noted that much of the enrollment growth involves students who are poor, the first generation in their families to attend college, and Hispanic or members of other minority groups.
"I am hopeful that we can make a compelling argument that we have an awful lot of poor students coming through the system, and they won't be able to go to college unless we provide some financial aid," Paredes said. "It would be tragic if we have to tell these poor, first-generation students of color as they're showing up in high school graduation classes that we've run out of money."
It's not as if Texas has been generous with financial aid all along. Paredes' agency, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, estimates that only about 70 percent of students meeting financial and academic eligibility requirements currently receive a Texas Grant. That's despite the fact that lawmakers increased spending on financial aid by about 35 percent two years ago.
Thomas Melecki, director of student financial services at the University of Texas, said eliminating Texas Grants for new students would keep some of them from enrolling. Currently, about 4,800 UT students receive a Texas Grant, including about 1,200 freshmen.
UT would try to redirect other grants to students who would otherwise receive a Texas Grant, as well as put more loan money into their financial aid packages, Melecki said. Many low-income students are leery of taking out loans, which, unlike grants, must be repaid.
A Texas Grant can be worth as much as $6,780 a year for a student at one of the state's universities, said Andy Kesling, a spokesman for the Higher Education Coordinating Board. Only students whose families can afford to pay no more than $4,000 toward their education are eligible, he said. The maximum grant for a community college student is $1,780.
Lashaila Mitchum, a sophomore majoring in social work at UT, said of her Texas Grant, "It makes financial hardship a little more sustainable."
She predicted that many students wouldn't apply for admission if the grant program is closed to entering students. "How can you expect people to work, pay taxes and be productive citizens if they can't go to school?" Mitchum said.
Two years ago, the Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness, a panel authorized by the Legislature, noted that insufficient financial aid can prompt students to forgo college or to spend too much time working while they are enrolled. Nationwide, only 8 percent of freshmen who work full time earn a bachelor's degree within six years. In Texas, 35 percent of undergraduates work full time, the commission reported.
Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, referring to GOP majorities in the House and Senate, said: "The Republican budget proposals read like blueprints for making college more expensive. By eliminating financial aid for new students, and pushing up tuition through cuts to colleges, the Republican proposals would put higher education and high-paying jobs out of reach for tens of thousands of young Texans."
GOP leaders say the proposals are intended to ensure that the state lives within its means. The proposals avoid new taxes and use of the rainy day fund.
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Budget shortfall may gut higher ed, financial aid Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Budget-shortfall-may-gut-higher-ed-financial-aid-945062.php#ixzz1AZhc9OHx
Good summary of what's in store for higher education. A very important detail mentioned here is that higher education is not protected by constitutional mandates. So while some have the capacity to lobby it not enough to protect college access and opportunities. In fact, even a giant like UT is not free from the what's coming down.
Need is quickly being replaced by merit, and we know who this will impact.
As I noted in an earlier post, it's important for current college students to become versed on these issues.
-Patricia
By Melissa Ludwig
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Two years ago, legislators were talking big about building more Tier One research universities and putting Texas on the map for higher education.
As the 82nd legislative session kicks off Tuesday, higher education has turned into a fat target for budget cuts as legislators seek to patch a projected $20 billion shortfall.
Universities and colleges already have been asked to give back 7.5 percent of state dollars in this two-year budget cycle, and could face another 10 percent cut over the next two years. Financial aid may get chopped as well, some lawmakers fear.
“I think all of us felt as though we were making real progress for higher education in Texas after the 2009 session. Now, it looks like a lot of those gains will be lost,” said state Rep. Joaquín Castro, a San Antonio Democrat and vice chairman of the House higher education committee.
Public community colleges and universities already have begun grappling with budget cuts by increasing class sizes, shedding full-time employees and filling the teaching ranks with part-time professors.
Further cuts could force them to defer maintenance projects, reduce academic offerings and cut programs that aren't core to the teaching mission, according to college leaders.
It also could mean higher tuition for students and families, and in the case of community colleges, higher taxes for local property owners.
“It is going to be a tough session. (Lawmakers) are not going to raise taxes, we know that,” said Ricardo Romo, president of the University of Texas at San Antonio. “There will be cuts, but no one knows where the cuts will be.”
Some lawmakers are pushing proposals to squeeze more productivity out of limited dollars by tweaking the higher education funding formula and criteria for the state grant program, but it's unclear whether those ideas can gain traction in a session consumed by wrangling over the budget.
“What am I going to do, throw a lady out of a nursing home or cut CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program)?” said state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. “The choices are all awful.”
Like the 2003 budget crisis, higher education is again a popular target for cuts because it doesn't carry a federal or constitutional mandate like Medicaid, public schools or prisons, said state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a Laredo Democrat who chairs the Senate higher education committee.
But unlike prisons, every dollar invested in higher education returns more than $5 to the Texas economy, according to the Texas comptroller.
The cuts come at a time when demographers project the state must double the percentage of adults with at least an associate's degree to 60 percent by 2030 to meet work force demand, said Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business.
The influential lobbying group is rooting for higher education, Hammond said, but reform is needed.
According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, students who entered Texas public higher education in 2003 and walked away without a degree cost $713 million in state and federal financial aid and $330 million in state appropriations.
“Completion is what counts,” Hammond said.
The group is backing a plan by the Coordinating Board to carve out 10 percent of state appropriations for universities and tie it to the number of bachelor's degrees awarded, with extra weight for at-risk students and high-demand fields such as science and math.
It would also stack up a university's actual six-year graduation rate to its “predicted” rate, given the university's student body makeup.
For community colleges, 10 percent of funding would be tied to “momentum points,” such as completing 15 or 30 credit hours, graduating or transferring to a university.
Local Democratic lawmakers are open to the proposal, but said it's unfair to crank up expectations while taking away money.
“Universities aren't going to be able to afford those programs to help (struggling) students succeed,” Van de Putte said.
Budgets already are on a tight wire.
In Bexar County, the Alamo Colleges are boosting average class sizes from 18 to 24, reducing full-time faculty and staff by 350 through attrition and early retirement, filling the teaching ranks with part-timers and canceling more classes because of low enrollment.
The colleges also have raised taxes and tuition, a trend that could continue if the cuts go deeper, said Bruce Leslie, the district's chancellor.
At public universities, average costs for students have jumped more than 70 percent since 2003. Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin have offered buyouts to tenured professors.
UTSA and Texas State University have avoided that tactic, but have left many jobs unfilled.
“Everybody's workload goes up,” said Bill Nance, vice president for finances at Texas State. “There are larger classes, longer lines paying tuition and fees, delays in this and that.”
Romo and Nance said they would rather suffer delays than gut initiatives aimed at helping at-risk students. They're also concerned about potential cuts to TEXAS grants, the state's grant program for needy students.
Efforts to cultivate more Tier One research universities in Texas also will face a challenge.
Last session, lawmakers created the $570 million National Research University Fund and put up $50 million for a wildly popular gift-matching program.
The fund money will not be touched, but given the budget crisis, it's unclear whether the matching program will be renewed.
“Are we going to slow the pace to (Tier One)? Sure, but it doesn't mean we shut down the shop,” Romo said. “The horse is out of the barn, and we are galloping.”
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Budget-shortfall-may-gut-higher-ed-financial-aid-945062.php#ixzz1AZg3x7j0
Need is quickly being replaced by merit, and we know who this will impact.
As I noted in an earlier post, it's important for current college students to become versed on these issues.
-Patricia
By Melissa Ludwig
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Two years ago, legislators were talking big about building more Tier One research universities and putting Texas on the map for higher education.
As the 82nd legislative session kicks off Tuesday, higher education has turned into a fat target for budget cuts as legislators seek to patch a projected $20 billion shortfall.
Universities and colleges already have been asked to give back 7.5 percent of state dollars in this two-year budget cycle, and could face another 10 percent cut over the next two years. Financial aid may get chopped as well, some lawmakers fear.
“I think all of us felt as though we were making real progress for higher education in Texas after the 2009 session. Now, it looks like a lot of those gains will be lost,” said state Rep. Joaquín Castro, a San Antonio Democrat and vice chairman of the House higher education committee.
Public community colleges and universities already have begun grappling with budget cuts by increasing class sizes, shedding full-time employees and filling the teaching ranks with part-time professors.
Further cuts could force them to defer maintenance projects, reduce academic offerings and cut programs that aren't core to the teaching mission, according to college leaders.
It also could mean higher tuition for students and families, and in the case of community colleges, higher taxes for local property owners.
“It is going to be a tough session. (Lawmakers) are not going to raise taxes, we know that,” said Ricardo Romo, president of the University of Texas at San Antonio. “There will be cuts, but no one knows where the cuts will be.”
Some lawmakers are pushing proposals to squeeze more productivity out of limited dollars by tweaking the higher education funding formula and criteria for the state grant program, but it's unclear whether those ideas can gain traction in a session consumed by wrangling over the budget.
“What am I going to do, throw a lady out of a nursing home or cut CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program)?” said state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. “The choices are all awful.”
Like the 2003 budget crisis, higher education is again a popular target for cuts because it doesn't carry a federal or constitutional mandate like Medicaid, public schools or prisons, said state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a Laredo Democrat who chairs the Senate higher education committee.
But unlike prisons, every dollar invested in higher education returns more than $5 to the Texas economy, according to the Texas comptroller.
The cuts come at a time when demographers project the state must double the percentage of adults with at least an associate's degree to 60 percent by 2030 to meet work force demand, said Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business.
The influential lobbying group is rooting for higher education, Hammond said, but reform is needed.
According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, students who entered Texas public higher education in 2003 and walked away without a degree cost $713 million in state and federal financial aid and $330 million in state appropriations.
“Completion is what counts,” Hammond said.
The group is backing a plan by the Coordinating Board to carve out 10 percent of state appropriations for universities and tie it to the number of bachelor's degrees awarded, with extra weight for at-risk students and high-demand fields such as science and math.
It would also stack up a university's actual six-year graduation rate to its “predicted” rate, given the university's student body makeup.
For community colleges, 10 percent of funding would be tied to “momentum points,” such as completing 15 or 30 credit hours, graduating or transferring to a university.
Local Democratic lawmakers are open to the proposal, but said it's unfair to crank up expectations while taking away money.
“Universities aren't going to be able to afford those programs to help (struggling) students succeed,” Van de Putte said.
Budgets already are on a tight wire.
In Bexar County, the Alamo Colleges are boosting average class sizes from 18 to 24, reducing full-time faculty and staff by 350 through attrition and early retirement, filling the teaching ranks with part-timers and canceling more classes because of low enrollment.
The colleges also have raised taxes and tuition, a trend that could continue if the cuts go deeper, said Bruce Leslie, the district's chancellor.
At public universities, average costs for students have jumped more than 70 percent since 2003. Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin have offered buyouts to tenured professors.
UTSA and Texas State University have avoided that tactic, but have left many jobs unfilled.
“Everybody's workload goes up,” said Bill Nance, vice president for finances at Texas State. “There are larger classes, longer lines paying tuition and fees, delays in this and that.”
Romo and Nance said they would rather suffer delays than gut initiatives aimed at helping at-risk students. They're also concerned about potential cuts to TEXAS grants, the state's grant program for needy students.
Efforts to cultivate more Tier One research universities in Texas also will face a challenge.
Last session, lawmakers created the $570 million National Research University Fund and put up $50 million for a wildly popular gift-matching program.
The fund money will not be touched, but given the budget crisis, it's unclear whether the matching program will be renewed.
“Are we going to slow the pace to (Tier One)? Sure, but it doesn't mean we shut down the shop,” Romo said. “The horse is out of the barn, and we are galloping.”
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Budget-shortfall-may-gut-higher-ed-financial-aid-945062.php#ixzz1AZg3x7j0
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Proposals floated to 'reinvent public higher education'
Coordinating board wants to revise funding formula, financial aid.
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010
The state's higher education agency called Thursday for sweeping changes in policy, including a revised method of funding community colleges and public universities, a greater emphasis on merit for certain financial aid and a series of cost-cutting measures.
The proposals, which would require legislative action, come at a difficult time for higher education: Enrollment is surging just as the state's finances are looking increasingly bleak.
The latest estimates put the overall shortfall at about $24 billion for the next two-year budget.
"We want to reinvent public higher education — reinvent it in a more cost-efficient way and reinvent it in a way that gives better academic results," said Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes.
"And we think that we can do that. I'm sure we'll need more financial resources over time, but not nearly as much as we would need if we didn't change the way we deliver education."
Members of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Paredes' agency, approved the various recommendations unanimously at a meeting in Austin. The proposals now go to Gov. Rick Perry and the Legislature.
The coordinating board also announced that statewide enrollment this fall is up 7.2 percent from a year ago, to 1.5 million students, based on a preliminary head count. The final count is expected to be 2 to 6 percent lower. The figures include all postsecondary institutions except private, for-profit colleges.
The recommendations on cost-cutting were developed for the coordinating board by a 20-member advisory panel of higher education leaders and business executives led by Fred W. Heldenfels IV , the board's chairman. Perry issued an executive order last year directing the board to look for savings, and perhaps not surprisingly, some recommendations echo policies the governor has urged lawmakers to adopt in recent years.
The coordinating board wants 10 percent of the base funding for universities to be indexed to so-called "student outcomes," such as graduation rates; total degrees awarded; degrees awarded to students from low-income families or those otherwise deemed at-risk; and degrees in science, technology, engineering, math and other fields considered high-priority.
Ten percent of community college funding would be on the basis of degrees awarded, certificates completed, college-level math course completions and other performance measures.
Currently, base funding is strictly a function of enrollment. Paredes said the recommendation was limited to 10 percent of base funding to avoid making draconian changes in the middle of a budget crisis. But that should be enough to prompt improvements, he said, and the percentage could be ramped up later.
These and other recommendations could save $4.2 billion over four years by raising graduation rates and achieving other cost efficiencies, Heldenfels said.
The coordinating board also wants to step up the merit component in allocation of financial aid awards called Texas Grants to students from low-income families.
Those with strong academic credentials would get priority. A similar proposal suggested by Paredes didn't get approved by lawmakers last year.
Lawmakers won't write the state's budget, including the higher education portion, until they meet in Austin next year. But Heldenfels acknowledged that it will be a challenging legislative session.
The first goal is to preserve base funding and financial aid, Heldenfels said. The coordinating board also hopes to get extra funding to accommodate enrollment growth. But if higher education takes a big hit, the sense among chancellors and presidents is that there's no way to avoid tuition increases, he said.
Results released today from a public opinion poll conducted for the American-Statesman and four other Texas newspapers might not help the coordinating board's cause.
Among registered voters who were surveyed, one quarter said that to close the budget deficit, they would cut universities and junior colleges more than public education, health services for poor people and public safety .
rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-3604
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010
The state's higher education agency called Thursday for sweeping changes in policy, including a revised method of funding community colleges and public universities, a greater emphasis on merit for certain financial aid and a series of cost-cutting measures.
The proposals, which would require legislative action, come at a difficult time for higher education: Enrollment is surging just as the state's finances are looking increasingly bleak.
The latest estimates put the overall shortfall at about $24 billion for the next two-year budget.
"We want to reinvent public higher education — reinvent it in a more cost-efficient way and reinvent it in a way that gives better academic results," said Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes.
"And we think that we can do that. I'm sure we'll need more financial resources over time, but not nearly as much as we would need if we didn't change the way we deliver education."
Members of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Paredes' agency, approved the various recommendations unanimously at a meeting in Austin. The proposals now go to Gov. Rick Perry and the Legislature.
The coordinating board also announced that statewide enrollment this fall is up 7.2 percent from a year ago, to 1.5 million students, based on a preliminary head count. The final count is expected to be 2 to 6 percent lower. The figures include all postsecondary institutions except private, for-profit colleges.
The recommendations on cost-cutting were developed for the coordinating board by a 20-member advisory panel of higher education leaders and business executives led by Fred W. Heldenfels IV , the board's chairman. Perry issued an executive order last year directing the board to look for savings, and perhaps not surprisingly, some recommendations echo policies the governor has urged lawmakers to adopt in recent years.
The coordinating board wants 10 percent of the base funding for universities to be indexed to so-called "student outcomes," such as graduation rates; total degrees awarded; degrees awarded to students from low-income families or those otherwise deemed at-risk; and degrees in science, technology, engineering, math and other fields considered high-priority.
Ten percent of community college funding would be on the basis of degrees awarded, certificates completed, college-level math course completions and other performance measures.
Currently, base funding is strictly a function of enrollment. Paredes said the recommendation was limited to 10 percent of base funding to avoid making draconian changes in the middle of a budget crisis. But that should be enough to prompt improvements, he said, and the percentage could be ramped up later.
These and other recommendations could save $4.2 billion over four years by raising graduation rates and achieving other cost efficiencies, Heldenfels said.
The coordinating board also wants to step up the merit component in allocation of financial aid awards called Texas Grants to students from low-income families.
Those with strong academic credentials would get priority. A similar proposal suggested by Paredes didn't get approved by lawmakers last year.
Lawmakers won't write the state's budget, including the higher education portion, until they meet in Austin next year. But Heldenfels acknowledged that it will be a challenging legislative session.
The first goal is to preserve base funding and financial aid, Heldenfels said. The coordinating board also hopes to get extra funding to accommodate enrollment growth. But if higher education takes a big hit, the sense among chancellors and presidents is that there's no way to avoid tuition increases, he said.
Results released today from a public opinion poll conducted for the American-Statesman and four other Texas newspapers might not help the coordinating board's cause.
Among registered voters who were surveyed, one quarter said that to close the budget deficit, they would cut universities and junior colleges more than public education, health services for poor people and public safety .
rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-3604
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