It likely won’t take the same form – the removal and reinstatement of a university president. But somewhere, sometime, probably sooner rather than later, the governing board of a public university, claiming to be acting to move the university forward and addressing 21st-century challenges, is going to make a move that upsets faculty members and other traditional university stakeholders. Read More
By Ronald L. Trowbridge – Special to the Star-Telegram
It may seem exaggerated to accuse the Texas Legislature of neglecting low-income and minority students, but facts show otherwise. The recent decision by regents at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station to freeze tuition reveals that tuition is just too high. Read More
Speaking today on a SXSWEdu panel in Austin, officials from a few Texas community colleges and universities said that $10,000 bachelor’s degrees are available now — and more will be within the year.
Gov. Rick Perry famously called on the development of a $10,000 degree in his State of the State address in 2011. Read More
Editorial Board Statesman
For decades, the courts have tried to settle the use of race in university admissions only to find that when they grant satisfaction in one case, dissatisfaction arises to create another. Read More
Just in case undocumented students receiving in-state tuition at Texas public colleges and universities forget that they pledged to apply for permanent residency status as soon as possible, a new rule approved today by theTexas Higher Education Coordinating Board requires their institutions to send them annual reminders. Read More
By Kassia Micek
In addition to class schedules, tuition and fees, college students have one more thing to worry about this semester: meeting new meningitis vaccine requirements before they can start classes.
In May, the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 1107, which requires new college students to provide proof of a bacterial meningitis vaccine 10 days before classes begin. That is a “significant expansion” of a 2009 law that required only students living on campus to get vaccinated, said Dominic Chavez, senior director of external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The new requirements affect all new students, including those living off campus. Read More
By Reeve Hamilton
For-profit institutions see opportunities in the declining state support for public institutions, disappointing graduation rates, and questions about productivity and efficiency.
Such schools, often referred to as career colleges, have their own well-publicized problems, including steeper price tags than some public schools, higher student loan default rates than other sectors and lingering suspicions about quality. It’s not uncommon to see an exposé questioning a for-profit college on the evening news.
But many stakeholders in Texas’ higher education ranks believe those schools will play an even greater role in the state’s future. And career college leaders are mobilizing to make the case that they offer an education that is both high quality and efficient. Read More
A proposed amendment to the Texas Constitution would allow the sale of bonds to fund the Hinson-Hazlewood College Student Loan Program is one of 10 items on the Nov. 8 ballot. Other items include a provision to extend tax exemptions to the surviving spouse of totally disabled veterans and an item dealing with the process of distributing money from the permanent school fund.
Since 1969, the State Legislature has sold more than $1.8 billion in bonds to finance the college loans. The state expects the current money for the program to expire in 2013, making the issuance of new bonds necessary. State-funded student loans may become even more important as Federal lawmakers consider cuts to financial aid.
“With this new debt commission, everything is on the table,” said State Sen. Royce West, the bill’s author. “They are looking to cut entitlement programs and are also looking at education funding. From that vantage point, higher education is going to be on the chopping block. One of things that is going to be on the block is research, but then they will look at financial aid.”
A summary of the proposed amendment provided by the House Research Organization said the need for the loans is paramount due to the competitive nature of the loan process. Read More
By Star-Telegram
The bright promise of a fresh semester that begins this week for college students in Texas also carries a bit of gray cloud behind it.
That’s because higher education continues to get more expensive while financial aid decreases and academic preparation remains a hurdle for too many students.
While UT Austin‘s TV network and Texas A&M’s flirtation with bolting the Big 12 are great chat fodder, the biggest challenges to the state’s colleges and universities rest with whom they’re serving in the classrooms and how well they’re doing it.
A recent report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board showed significant growth in higher education enrollment and in the number of students receiving degrees and certificates.
But the state is short of the goals it has set for getting African-American men and Hispanics through college.
Closing the Gaps by 2015 is the state’s master plan for increasing college attendance and expanding higher education research.
According to this year’s update, enrollment jumped by more than 250,000 students since 2007. That covers public, private and for-profit institutions, including four-year schools and community colleges. From 2009 to 2010, 60 percent of enrollment growth was at community colleges.
While more blacks and Hispanics are continuing their education, the numbers are short of the coordinating board’s 2015 targets: Five percent of African-American men and 4.5 percent of Hispanics were attending, according to the report.
The completion gap also continues: Eighty-four percent of Asian students graduate within six years, as do 76.6 percent of whites, 64.8 percent of Hispanics and 52.3 percent of African-Americans.
And there’s an overall shortage of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The report included a long list of suggestions for the board, the Legislature, institutions and public schools. Some seemed superficial, such as revamping websites and undertaking a statewide “college-going campaign.” Others will require substantial effort, coordination, creativity and, yes, money.
For instance, dual-credit courses that allow high school students to simultaneously earn college credit should be consistent, and transferring from two-year to four-year colleges should be smoother and cost-efficient.
Also recommended is increased effort to make sure all high school students have the rigorous curriculum that prepares them for higher education.
Students must now take four years of English, math, science and social studies. State officials credit that with a rising percentage of Texas students passing all the college-readiness benchmarks of the ACT college entrance exam.
But large numbers of Texas high school graduates still reach college needing remedial courses. In 2010-11, 48 percent of community college entrants and 14 percent of incoming university freshmen weren’t ready in at least one subject, according to the board.
And yet, while the challenges continue, the Legislature in the summer appropriated $1.2 billion less for higher education in 2011-13 than in 2010-11. That included a 15 percent reduction in major financial aid programs, which already reach only a fraction of eligible students.
But the board said the state needs to spend more, not less, to help the neediest students.
In a June analysis, the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities said that for every $1 in federal Pell Grant aid sent to Texas students, the state invests 32 cents, far less than six other large states, including Florida (41 cents), California (56 cents), North Carolina (70 cents) and New York (88 cents). Read More
“I predict strong financial pressure on colleges and universities that aren’t a good investment for students.”– Glenn Reynolds,By Bruce Wright
There was a time in our nation’s history when college was reserved for a privileged and well-heeled few. And today many worry that those days may be returning, given the spiraling cost of tuition.
According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, average U.S. college tuition and fees rose by an astonishing 439 percent between 1982 and 2007 — more than four times as much as the inflation rate for that period (106 percent), and about three times the increase in median family income (147 percent).
Texas hasn’t been immune. Between 1999 and 2010, average tuition and fees at the state’s 10 largest public universities rose by about 120 percent, to nearly $8,000 annually.
Such increases are forcing recession-battered students and their families to assume increasing amounts of long-term debt. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, 58 percent of Texas’ 2009 college graduates were carrying student loan debt — an average of $20,015 each. And debt can range much higher, of course, particularly for those attending private schools and pursuing advanced degrees.
Such debt can be daunting for families and crippling for young people just entering the job market, particularly one as rocky as today’s.
So where does it end? College costs can’t continue climbing indefinitely, can they? And what happens if our universities price themselves out of their market?
Such speculation has led many observers to begin describing higher education costs as a classic “bubble” — and one that may eventually give way, with potentially disastrous effects on our schools and society at large. Read More
By Gov. Rick Perry / Special to the Express-News
Last week, Texas partnered with the Western Governors University in the creation of WGU Texas, an accredited, online university offering degrees in more than 50 areas of study, many of them vital to meeting the demands of the growing jobs market here in the Lone Star State.
We all know attaining a college degree is among the most effective ways to improve anyone’s quality of life, and ensuring a steady stream of college graduates ready to take on the high-tech jobs of the future is imperative to our mission of keeping Texas on top of the nation in job creation.
Innovative ways to effectively and affordably educate Texans, like WGU Texas, are going to be essential parts of improving access to higher education, but it’s far from the only approach we’ve taken.
In 2000, Texas was falling behind the 10 most populous states in the proportion of students enrolling in college. Acting on recommendations of a commission I formed as lieutenant governor, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) adopted a strategic plan for higher education, Closing the Gaps by 2015, challenging our higher education institutions to increase enrollment by 500,000 in 15 years.
Closing the Gaps has been a success for students and their families, taxpayers and policy-makers alike. So successful, in fact, that in 2005 we moved the goalposts back further, increasing the target number to 630,000 by 2015. With enrollment up by almost 486,000 in 2010, our institutions are well on their way to meeting this revised goal. Read More
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has honored UT Dallas’ drive to streamline business operations by saluting the University’s Lean Initiative program at a recent meeting in Austin.
As part of the board’s Recognition of Excellence on July 28, Senior Vice President for Business Affairs Calvin Jamison outlined the University’s success in implementing lean management practices, as well as the University’s related Catch Comet Pride Service Excellence program.
The Lean Initiative was introduced in 2007 to improve UT Dallas business processes and to instill a service excellence mentality among employees. The initiative operates in concert with Catch Comet Pride, which trains employees in customer service best practices. More than 650 UT Dallas employees have been certified in the customer service program through Human Resources Management.
“The Lean Initiative is aligned with the University’s Strategic Plan to improve operating efficiency, and we’re proud of the results we’ve achieved to date,” Jamison said. “Any progress the University has made is a result of our dedicated employees who continually look for ways to improve our business processes.”
Two improvements have been using technology to help streamline lab and fire safety inspections and by reconfigure the scholarship award process. Read More
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry, with the support of Higher Education Chairs Sen. Judith Zaffirini and Rep. Dan Branch, today announced the creation of WGU Texas, a subsidiary of Western Governors University (WGU), which is an accredited, nationally-recognized, nonprofit university. WGU Texas will offer an affordable and flexible alternative for Texans seeking a higher education degree. The governor also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance the state’s participation with and support of WGU, which was founded in 1997 by governors of 19 states, including Texas.
“Earning a college degree is one of the most effective ways for individuals to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families,” Gov. Perry said. “By offering online, competency-based courses in key workforce areas, WGU Texas provides another flexible, affordable way for Texans to fulfill their potential and contribute their talents for years and decades to come, without any need for state funding. Our strengthened collaboration with WGU plays an important role in the effort to ensure Texas has an equipped workforce to meet the needs of job creators.”
WGU is an online university that primarily serves working adults and offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in key workforce areas of business, information technology, education and health professions, including nursing. More than 75 percent of students are low income, minority, first generation to attend college or rural students. WGU does not receive state funding, but is self-sustaining on tuition of about $5,780 per 12-month year. WGU was started through a memorandum of understanding and provision of $100,000 in start-up funding from each of the 19 founding states.
“Working Texans who cannot pursue their higher education goals on college campuses certainly should reap the benefits of WGU Texas’ online, competency-based model,” Sen. Judith Zaffirini said. “They also should benefit from the program’s flexibility, which will allow them to meet family and work responsibilities while continuing their studies. Although WGU Texas does not receive state funding and is self-sustaining through tuition, it will help address our state’s key workforce needs while offering affordable career and continuing education opportunities to Texans over 30.”
WGU Texas is being created through Executive Order RP 75, which calls on state agencies to work cooperatively with WGU toward the creation and establishment of WGU Texas. It also directs agencies including the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), Texas Education Agency and Texas Workforce Commission to create appropriate data sharing processes as may be required by state or federal guidelines for higher education providers.
“Texas needs legions of new, sharp, credentialed minds to succeed in a knowledge-based economy,” Rep. Dan Branch said. “The creation of WGU Texas will provide another low cost, flexible and tested option for Texans seeking to compete in a global marketplace.”
This MOU is an addendum to the one executed by the state and WGU in 1997, and further enhances Texas’ participation and support of WGU Texas, particularly through the creation of an advisory board whose members will be appointed in consultation with the governor.
“By establishing WGU Texas, Gov. Perry and the State of Texas are making quality higher education more accessible for working adults throughout the Lone Star State,” said Dr. Robert W. Mendenhall, President of WGU. “We look forward to this partnership with the state, which will help thousands of Texans earn the college degrees they want and need, on a schedule they can manage, at a cost they can afford.”
WGU degrees are competency-based, meaning students advance by demonstrating their knowledge and abilities, rather than accumulating credit hours. This model better serves adult learners who enroll with specific skill sets, allowing them to graduate faster. Additionally, this model particularly benefits veterans, who are able to apply the skills they learned in the military toward their degrees, which helps implement SB 1736 that created the College Credit for Heroes Program and was signed by Gov. Perry. More than 25,000 students from all 50 states, including 1,600 Texans, are enrolled at WGU, which has grown more than 30 percent annually.
“WGU Texas will significantly expand access to affordable, high quality education and training,” said THECB Commissioner Raymund Paredes. “This initiative is yet another innovation that is making Texas a national role model for reinventing higher education.” Read More
Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes is warning that the Legislature’s reduction in funding for the state’s main financial aid program could threaten its viability as an incentive for low-income students to attend college.
Lawmakers cut the Texas Grant program by about 9 percent for the next two years despite surging enrollment. As a result, only about 30 percent, or 33,100, of the 110,000 incoming students who meet academic and financial eligibility requirements are expected to receive the grant during the 2012-13 biennium, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Continuing students getting renewal grants will bring the total number of students in the program to 77,300 during the biennium, down from 106,000.
“A lot of students will say, ‘I can’t count on this kind of support,’\u2009″ said Paredes, who is the coordinating board’s chief executive. “We’re going to have to find a way to fund a sufficient number of students so the Texas Grant remains a viable option.” Read More
By Diego Cruz
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is expected to release an annual report today saying Texas universities have improved their standing among peer states since 2000 but continue to face challenges.
The state agency launched the “Closing the Gaps” initiative as a blueprint for state institutions of higher education with the goal of making Texas competitive with other states by 2015, said board spokesman Dominic Chavez.
The plan’s four critical goals are to increase enrollment, raise graduating rates, improve schools’ reputations and increase federal research, Chavez said.
“If we’re going to build a stronger economy for decades to come, then we need a more educated workforce,” he said.
After the plan launched in 2000, enrollment at public universities has increased by 486,000 students — nearing the goal of 630,000 students, according to a preliminary summary of the progress report. The number of degrees and certificates awarded annually increased by 176,000. The 2015 target increase is 210,000.
“Today, Texas is on a strong trajectory to meet its goals by 2015,” the report said. “However, challenges persist, particularly among Hispanics and African-Americans.” Read More
By Melissa Ludwig
SAN ANTONIO — Texas is mostly on track to hit higher education goals set for 2015, but the state must shift its focus from recruiting students to helping them finish their degrees, Raymund Paredes, Texas commissioner of higher education, said Tuesday.
“We have spent an awful lot of time over the past 25 years emphasizing access,” Paredes said at a news conference. “We have come to the sometimes painful realization that access is not enough.”
Paredes said the state’s colleges and universities are largely on track to meet enrollment and completion goals laid out in Closing the Gaps, the 2000 strategic plan for higher education.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board meets Thursday in Austin to approve the progress report.
However, Hispanics still lag behind other groups when it comes to participation and completion, and the number of degrees produced in science and math fields are still woefully short, Paredes said. Read More
Some say demography is destiny. The baby boom generation has created enormous challenges and opportunities. The sustained economic boom following WWII, the fantastic growth in housing, the seemingly ever increasing demand for automobiles, consumerism, and the growth in every aspect of our economy has its roots in the baby boom. From 1960 on, higher education — especially public higher education — has been growing. The baby boom, which began in 1946 and is estimated to be 76 million people, has required an enormous investment in education at all levels. Failure to respond would have robbed the nation of a great human resource. This generation created the demand for education, and governments have responded with more schools, more and bigger universities and community colleges.
But things change. Children grow up. Students graduate, establish careers and grow older. Irrespective of the delay in retirement caused by the Great Recession of 2008 for the leading edge of the baby boom, boomers will still grow older. They will leave the workforce, will become ill and will need intensive and chronic care, like many of their parents now require.
The two government programs designed to care for the elderly are, of course, Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare, the great 1960s program, serves all people over 65 and is paid for with federal tax revenue and participant co-payments. Experts tell us that Medicare is financially challenged and will run out of money in 2024. Medicaid is the federal program, shared with the states, designed to help women, children and the elderly, who are poor and unable to afford medical care. These programs, as essential as they are, cost hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Their costs increase in a recession, as more people fall below the poverty line.
Medicaid now consumes 23 percent of the Texas state budget. By 2040, Medicaid will consume 40 to 50 percent of Texas’ projected revenues, and this does not consider the effect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). A train is coming.
The numbers are compelling. Texas’ population of Medicaid enrollees will more than double by 2040. The elderly seeking Medicaid support will increase by 177 percent, in a pre-health reform scenario. If healthcare reforms happen as planned, the proportion of elderly receiving Medicaid benefits is projected to increase an additional 50 percent. The increases are staggering, and they will affect Texas’ ability to fund all other services, including education, higher education and everything else but Medicaid. Elderly females are and will be disproportionately enrolled in Medicaid as they live longer and outlive their personal resources. It is unlikely that a change in public policy or opinion will occur that will leave grandma in the nursing home parking lot today or tomorrow. Just as baby boomers have consumed enormous public funds when younger, tomorrow’s older baby boomers are going to continue to capture more state and national resources.
At the very moment that funding is being pulled away from education at all levels, the need is enormous and will become greater. From 2000 to 2010, Texas’ population grew by almost 19 percent to more than 25 million. It is projected that Texas’ college age population will increase by almost 50 percent in the next 20 years. Compounding the problem, Texas is now a majority/minority state. Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population, and Hispanics have not participated in higher education at the same rate as Anglos or African Americans. Texas lags behind other major states in the proportion of the population 25 years of age and older that have college degrees. As a result, the earning power of Hispanics is less than other groups. Somehow this trend must be reversed. Read More
We thought this was a good story, but we thought it misinformed for the subject to suggest “It appears to me that someone, for some reason, is manufacturing a crisis.” – referring to university costs and management.
Crushing student debt and escalating fees are not a manufactured crisis. There is a real crisis, and the public deserves to understand why, learn of solutions and then demand our leaders take action. Read on.
Take roll. Make advising mandatory. Tell students they must visit during faculty office hours. Raise admission standards.
Raymund Paredes, Texas commissioner of higher education, Friday told the Texas A&M University System regents how they could keep students in college and graduate more of them at little to no cost.
In the midst of an ugly political spat over productivity and the cost of higher education in Texas, Paredes said the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board stands ready with a host of evidence-based reforms.
“We need to reinvent public higher education. The current model is clearly unsustainable,” Paredes said. “There are a lot of things we can do. We have identified practices that improve outcomes but don’t cost anything.”
Few would argue that public higher education in Texas must become more efficient to thrive in a changing economy. But the scale of the problem, what must be done and who will lead the way still are prickly topics.
“I am somewhat confused with the argument that … the university is broke and needs fixing,” said Kathryn Bell McKenzie, an education professor at Texas A&M, addressing the regents. “This just does not align with my experience. It appears to me that someone, for some reason, is manufacturing a crisis.”
The turmoil began a few months ago, when news reports exposed internal emails showing Gov. Rick Perry had been pressuring university regents across the state to implement dramatic reforms contained in the “Seven Breakthrough Solutions,” a treatise by a wealthy Austin entrepreneur named Jeff Sandefer which was promoted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative Austin think-tank. Read More
In 2003, Gov. Rick Perry signed off one of the most significant policy changes in the history of Texas higher education. With both the state and its public universities strapped for cash, the decision was made to grant universities the autonomy to set tuition rates, freeing them from government regulation that had artificially kept Texas public higher education affordable for generations.
As expected, college costs in Texas ticked upward — a trend that looks likely to persist as the state’s contribution continues to decline. Texas Tech University in Lubbock, for example, has seen the state-funded portion of its budget drop from 56 percent in 1990 to 36 percent in 2010. After taking another cut this year, the Texas Tech University System regents — all Perry appointees — just hiked the tuition at their main campus by 5.9 percent and at Angelo State University by 9.9 percent. At the state’s flagship institutions, the numbers are even worse: State contributions make up 24 percent of Texas A&M University’s budget and 14 percent of the University of Texas’ budget, down from 52 percent 30 years ago
It’s not the sort of trend that Perry — who often notes in his stump speeches that he is an animal-science graduate from Texas A&M — wants to be associated with. More recently, he has ramped up a public push for lower tuition while shifting blame to the universities by urging them to reduce inefficiencies.
“There are serious improvements that need to be made to our higher education system,” Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier says. “We have a great higher education system, but there are steps that need to be taken to improve it, and we can’t ignore what those needs are.”
In recent months, the various forces in Perry’s conflicted higher ed history have come to a head. The result: an overwrought public identity crisis in the state’s higher education community, the resolution of which will likely define the governor’s legacy on the topic and could be a factor in any potential bid for higher office.
Among the issues at hand: Can access to higher education be expanded and tuition lowered without sacrificing quality? What role should academic research play at public universities? Who should and shouldn’t be managing the state’s educational institutions — and how are the current leaders doing so far?
Even before taking the helm of the state in late 2000, Perry showed interest in higher education. In 1999, as lieutenant governor, he established a Special Commission on 21st Century Colleges and Universities “to take a long-term look at improving higher education — its mission, its role in the new economy, and its accessibility and its affordability.”
The next year, worried about the quality of Texas’ higher education system and that it was lagging too far behind the country’s leaders, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which monitors the implementation of the state’s higher ed policy, launched a 15-year initiative to bring the state up to a level of parity. Encouraged by the governor, it has seen success in some areas. But headed into the final four-year homestretch, challenges remain.
“Texas has done a much better job on access,” observes Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business. “Now we need to turn the directions toward completions.”
While Texas students are heading to college in greater number (and Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes anticipates they will reach the 2015 enrollment goal), they still struggle to come out of the system with a degree or certificate. As Mark Miner, the governor’s spokesman, noted in a recent press release calling on universities to “join the reform efforts,” the statewide four-year graduation rate is about 28.6 percent compared to a national average closer to 40 percent. Degrees conferred in science, technology, engineering and math fields are particularly behind in reaching the state’s goals, as are teacher certifications.
Hammond says the long-term workforce implications of such success rates should be of more concern than rising tuition. “It’s higher than anyone would like it to be, and that’s a hindrance,” he said, “but I don’t think that’s the issue.” For one thing, Hammond points out, before the cuts made in the just-ended legislative session, funds going toward financial aid had been increasing. Also, tuition in Texas remains relatively low — in the case of community colleges, extremely so.
Average tuition at a public two-year institution in Texas is $1,796, which is 45th among all the states. With an average tuition cost of $5,623, Texas’ public four-year institutions rank 28th. According to recently released U.S. Department of Education statistics, South Texas College in McAllen and the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg are the two most affordable colleges in the country.
And not everyone is troubled by recent trends. Randy Diehl, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, concedes that tuition increases have outpaced inflation, but argues that the average yearly increase in tuition since deregulation is less than average yearly increases in the decade preceding it.
Also, he says, if tuition were lowered, in order to maintain access, the portion of tuition that is currently set aside for financial aid would have to be replaced with increased funding from regressive sales taxes. “So in terms of what’s fair, socially and economically,” he says, “I would trade a higher tuition for a lower state contribution any day.”
In his State of the State address this year and in subsequent public remarks, Perry called for three things for higher education: a funding system that rewards outcomes, a four-year tuition freeze and the creation of a $10,000 bachelor’s degree — books included. But the proposals that have ended up getting the most attention are “seven breakthrough solutions” for higher education that Perry has been promoting behind the scenes for the last three years.
The proposals — which focus on the widely agreed upon goals of emphasizing quality teaching, efficiency and productivity — were written by Jeff Sandefer, a wealthy oil investor and founder of a private business school in Austin. He was one of the initial members of Lt. Gov. Perry’s special commission. After Sandefer’s proposals were unveiled at a summit in 2008, Perry made it clear that regents would be judged by what they did with the suggestions, and his office later emphasized that the initiatives — which have been deeply unpopular in academic circles — should be “regent driven.”
The chief source of influence the governor has at a university stems from his power to appoint the members of the boards of regents, who are charged with the oversight of university systems including matters such as tuition increases and the hiring and firing of administrators. Read More
With freshman orientation right around the corner, many college students and their parents are about to get a surprise that could derail years of careful financial planning: last-minute tuition increases and cuts to financial aid packages promised just a few short months ago.
As states have finalized their budgets in recent weeks and months, cuts to public college funding have started to trickle down to parents and students. Since March, at least 19 states have cut money for public colleges. Some states, including Illinois and Georgia, are also slashing grants awarded to students just a few months ago. Still more families won’t find out about changes to tuition and financial aid packages until the end of the summer or even after the semester begins — what experts say is the longest delay ever. “This will create real hardship for these students and may impact directly on their ability to enroll this fall,” says Tom Horgan, president of the New Hampshire College and University Council.
Long the affordable alternative to private colleges, tuition and fees for public schools have already been climbing rapidly. They’re still much cheaper — tuition and fees averaged about $7,600 for the 2010-2011 school year, compared to $27,300 at private colleges, according to the College Board — but the new increases aren’t trivial. Last month, Texas and New Hampshire announced 6% to 10% tuition hikes at some public universities. A spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board says as of now, the hikes impact two out of 35 colleges, with the potential for more to come. This month, California’s four-year colleges are seeking to increase tuition by up to 12%, on top of an 8% to 10% increase that was announced earlier this year. “Public colleges and universities across the country have been put in a terrible bind,” says Daniel Hurley, director of state relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “This academic year will be the worst on record in terms of public higher education funding.” Read More
AUSTIN—The Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education today issued a statement in response to the Governor’s office’s criticism of the newly issued report, Maintaining Excellence and Efficiency at The University of Texas at Austin:
“It’s unfortunate that the same week that the University of Texas at Austin’s President Powers announced a major initiative to improve college graduation rates, Governor Perry’s spokesman chose to denigrate Texas universities rather than support their efforts to improve and reform. As the Coalition has said repeatedly, the question is not whether higher education needs to improve, but how to effect change in a constructive way that strengthens quality rather than undermines it. Interestingly, the statement from the Governor’s office never mentions educational quality, which is vital for Texas students, businesses and the economic development and growth of our state. By choosing to discount a scientific and research-based analysis of proposals that threaten to undermine the quality of higher education in Texas, the Governor’s spokesman creates the impression that his efforts are about scoring political points rather than improving higher education. Read More
By Huma Munir
President William Powers Jr. announced the formation of a task force on graduation rates to help reduce costs and increase academic achievement at the University.
More than half, 52.9 percent, of UT students graduate in four years, and 81.3 percent graduate within six, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Although that gives UT the highest four-year graduation rate of any Texas university, Powers said he wants the University to be competitive with top schools in the country.
The University has come under fire for so-called inefficiencies from groups such as the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Gov. Rick Perry. Powers said the University had been trying to tackle graduation rates long before public debate began last semester. He said the task force meets one of the goals of the Commission of 125, a group of 125 citizens founded in 2002 that works to improve the University and the experience of students.
Former UT President Larry Faulkner designed UT’s flat rate tuition system, which began in 2004, to make it cheaper for students to take more credit hours, allowing them to graduate on time. Advising in the school of undergraduate studies was designed to help students plan their path in the university and improve on-time graduation rates. The task force is the next step of that process, Powers said. Read More
By William Lutz
Gov. Rick Perry’s communications director Mark Miner blasted University of Texas administrators for issuing a report attacking proposals to reform higher education. The university used personnel on the College of Liberal Arts payroll to produce a report critical of ideas put forward by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and other higher education reformers.
Enrolling for classes is no longer enough. This Congressional term, marked by budget cuts and fund reallocation, has yet again set its sights on higher education.
During the regular session, which ended May 30, the 82nd Texas Legislature discussed a switch to an outcome-based higher education funding alternative that would change certain requirements for state colleges and universities to receive government funding.
Current funding practices specify that colleges and universities merely maintain a certain level of student enrollment to receive funding. However disparities between the growing state population and enrollment in institutions of higher education have been increasingly evident.
“I think that if you look at the effort that has been underway for several years now, one of the big concerns is ‘how are we going to make sure the people of Texas can get a college degree?’ The Texas Educational Coordinating Board data states that we’re on track in terms of accessibility, and I’m not talking just about Texas A&M, I’m talking about all the universities in Texas,” said Karan Watson, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “We’ve grown in enrollment like they’ve hoped we would. As the state grows in population, we need to grow in enrollment and having not been as successful as some states in what percentage of our young people are going to college, we need to do a better job of that.” Read More
At the height of a controversy about the direction of the school’s governing board earlier this year, the chairman of the University of Texas System regents told a fellow regent that he felt as winded as he did during football practices decades ago under coach Darrell Royal.
“Reminds me of two-a-days in Austin in August — you never seem to catch your breath and when you do it feels like steam!” Gene Powell, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said in an email to Regent Robert Stillwell in March.
That email and hundreds more that circulated among regents and others involved in the controversy were obtained from the UT System by the American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act.
The messages convey frustration on the part of some regents that they were being criticized as anti-research, as well as an intense interest among regents in gathering data from the system’s campuses on online class offerings, teacher evaluations and other matters. When those data were eventually released publicly, the system said the information was “raw” and “cannot yield accurate analysis, interpretations or conclusions.”
The emails also show that three prominent supporters of higher education wrote a strongly worded letter to Powell urging the regents to make “meaningful statements” regarding the importance of fundamental and applied research, the benefit of the dual mission of teaching and research, and the value of tenured faculty members.
Such statements are essential to address “the perception that actions are being taken that would hurt UT System schools, in particular UT-Austin,” said the letter April 1 from Kenny Jastrow, former CEO of Temple-Inland Inc. and chairman of the university’s ongoing $3 billion capital campaign; Charles Tate, a member of the University of Texas Investment Management Co.’s board; and Pam Willeford, a former chairwoman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and a former ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The UT System is seeking approval from state Attorney General Greg Abbott for its decision to withhold an unknown number of emails and to black out portions of some that it released to the Statesman.
The Statesman will argue that the information should be made public, said Editor Fred Zipp.
The emails give a flavor of Powell’s reaction to criticism from some lawmakers, alumni and others for his hiring of a $200,000-a-year special adviser who had written that much academic research lacks value. Powell also drew criticism for suggesting in an interview with the Statesman that it might be possible to offer cut-rate degrees that he styled as Bel Air quality, a reference to a mid-level Chevrolet of a generation ago.
“I promise everyone I will be much more careful with my metaphors in the future!!!!” Powell said in a March 9 email to various UT System officials.
The adviser, Rick O’Donnell, was dismissed April 19 after accusing top UT System and UT-Austin officials of suppressing information on faculty members’ productivity. O’Donnell and the system reached a settlement Friday under which he agreed not to sue the system in exchange for $70,000 and a glowing letter about his work from Powell.
In a March 14 email to O’Donnell, Powell said the “loyal opposition” is “telling anyone that will listen that you will be making policy and you have been hired to fire the Chancellor, fire the president of UT Austin and to take over the System.” Read More
By Reeve Hamilton
For years, Gov. Rick Perry’s efforts to increase efficiency and productivity at public universities — largely by pressuring university system officials to carry out specific changes proposed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative research group — were mostly conducted out of the public eye.
Now, after months of controversy, with several third-party organizations across the state cropping up to focus on the issue, along with a new oversight committee created by the Legislature, the various constituents are preparing for a protracted public discussion about how to best address problems like rising tuition and ballooning student debt.
“I think the more people who are looking at the discussion and bringing their ideas to the table, that’s a good thing,” said David Guenthner, a spokesman for the policy foundation.
Christopher Covo, a recent graduate and former student body president of Texas State University, is the director of one such outside group, America’s Next Impact, a project of the Texas division of Americans for Prosperity, a national conservative advocacy group. The group’s higher-education efforts are branded under the banner “Rock the Ivory Tower.”
Mr. Covo, strapped with $30,000 in student loan debt, said making universities more efficient is an idea that resounds among the young professional crowd he is trying to rally. Read More
By Mitchell Schnurman
For young people discouraged by double-digit unemployment and huge student loans, here’s an option that sounds too good to be true: a career program that takes 12 months, costs $4,100, including books, and places 97 percent of its graduates in jobs.
And the median pay tops $40,000 a year.
The catch? It’s so competitive that two out of three candidates don’t get a slot.
Last fall, 89 students applied for Tarrant County College‘s certificate program in surgical technology. Twenty-eight were accepted, an official said.
Last spring, 379 applied for TCC‘s nursing program, and 137 got in. Perhaps TCC’s most competitive program is radiological technology, a two-year specialty that placed 100 percent of its graduates for many years, until the recession ended the streak in 2009.
Last year, 240 applied and 28 were accepted. All grads pass the national exam (some on the second try), the director says. And in North Texas, the median salary for a radiological technologist is $58,190. Read More
A powerful group of individuals — including former regents, former university system chancellors and former university presidents — from around Texas have joined together to address the state’s ongoing higher education controversy.
The new group, the Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education, was unveiled today, as was a new website, texaseducationexcellence.org. According to a press release, the group was formed “to actively advance excellence at our state’s public higher education institutions and support a more thoughtful and transparent discussion of ways to strengthen and improve, rather than undermine, them.”
This is the latest group — and one of the largest — to form in the wake of a controversy over Gov. Rick Perry‘s promotion of “seven breakthrough solutions” written by Austin businessman Jeff Sandefer. Other groups have included Texas Business for Higher Education and the Alliance for Texas A&M University, many members of which are part of this new coalition. Read More
By Chester E. Finn Jr
Rick Perry should not be hasty in applying Texas’ education lessons to the whole country.
Deep in the heart of Texas is where some education-policy lessons might best stay.
But they tend not to. Rick Perry’s imminent entry into the 2012 GOP presidential race suggests that, for the second time in less than a dozen years, we could see a Texas governor try to make the federal role in education conform to his own preconceptions and lessons learned in Austin.
That’s what happened in 2001 when Gov. George W. Bush carried with him from Texas the essential elements of policy and practice that (after much fiddling by Congress) became the No Child Left Behind Act.
And something similar could happen again in 2013 should Perry win the Oval Office and endeavor there to implement the conclusions he has reached about education during his dozen years running the Lone Star State.
Besides (and partly due to) its enormousness, Texas is a proud, sometimes arrogant, and seriously self-absorbed place. One need only stand under the immense dome of the state capitol — taller than the one in Washington — and gaze at the six flags depicted in the terrazzo floor. All have flown over Texas. One senses that its current affiliation with the United States is a sort of fling, another dalliance that could one day end. Read More
By Diane Smith
Texas students would soon be able to scrutinize for-profit and career colleges using the state’s online accountability system for higher education institutions, under legislation awaiting Gov. Rick Perry‘s signature.
Entering information about for-profit and career colleges in the state databank will help students gain a sense of “buyer beware,” said Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, who authored the measure, SB1534.
Under rules that Shapiro said will better protect students, career schools also must post online the names of regulatory agencies that oversee their programs as well as how to file complaints.
Students “were getting stuck between a rock and hard place,” Shapiro said, explaining how she was moved to act after watching a news report about investigations into for-profit schools. “There was nobody paying attention.” Read More
Legislators want to ensure transparency and impartiality in university boards of regents with a new committee after learning officials were meeting with Gov. Rick Perry behind closed doors, said Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, to The Daily Texan.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, formed the Texas Joint Committee for Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency last month to discuss higher education policy decisions openly and protect the high quality of Texas universities. In recent months, Perry and interest groups such as the Texas Public Policy Foundation have pushed for separation between research and academic funding, which legislators said could harm universities’ goals.
“We must do all that we can to ensure that these public institutions operate transparently and with world-class leadership,” Straus said in a press release. “The talented members that we are appointing understand that effective university governing systems enable our students to compete on the global stage.” Read More
A pilot program scheduled to begin in fall 2013 in San Antonio will allow students to earn a bachelor’s degree and a medical degree in seven years instead of the traditional eight.
The combined degree program is intended to permit biology students at UT-San Antonio to transfer to the UT Health Science Center in that city after three years, provided they score at least 27 on the Medical College Admission Test; 45 is a perfect score. The program has been approved by the Board of Regents and is expected to be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, said Christi Fish, a spokeswoman for UT-San Antonio. Read More
Representative Dan Branch, Republican of Dallas and chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, succeeded this session in passing a major bill on a new financing system for institutions of higher education. A system with a large “outcomes-based funding” component has so far garnered significant support. The implementation of such a practice would reward universities for a higher number of graduates, not merely for an increased number of enrolled students. This system is tailored to encourage Texas to meet its 2015 goals, one of which is to increase the number of degrees awarded by 46,000 each year.
Among the supporters of an outcomes-based funding system is Raymund Paredes, the Texas higher-education commissioner. However, there is disagreement as to which specific outcomes to measure and, as a result, how to encourage them.
At the end of the session, Senate Higher Education Committee chairwoman Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) insisted that the questions remains “if, not when” Texas might adopt a system of this sort. Read More
Listen in as the president of a university in Texas explains why a tax-paying parent couldn’t understand the complex decisions that go into being a “prestigious” “tier one” school.
By Yann Ranaivo
Some West Texas A&M University professors fear that a new information list compiled by administrators will lead to unfair job cuts.
The list shows each faculty member’s salaries and revenue generated from students and research during the 2009-10 school year. The University of Texas System released a similar list earlier this month. A list for the A&M University system was released in March.
Faculty Senate President Gary Byrd said he fears that similar lists will be released in the future and will be used to cut faculty in the face of budget cuts.
“It’s a very simple and limited idea, and they were trying to apply it to a very complicated problem,” Byrd said.
A&M officials say the list was put together to give university administrators more information about their departments. Read More
There are 35 public universities and 50 community college districts in Texas.
According to the Handbook of Texas Online, a publication of the Texas State Historical Association, the leading public doctorate-granting institutions are the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, followed by the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Woman’s University and Texas A&M University-Commerce. Private institutions with doctoral programs include Rice, Baylor, Southern Methodist and Texas Christian universities. Read More
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Rick Perry had been governor of Texas for all of 13 days when he announced in January 2001 that higher education would be his top legislative priority. He called for voucher-style funding, an expansion of online learning and a dramatic increase in student financial aid.
More than 10 years later, reinventing public higher education remains a work in progress for the state’s longest-serving governor.
That effort has taken an unusual turn lately, with prominent alumni, donors, business leaders and university officials questioning Perry’s initiatives and those of his appointees to university governing boards. The governor, for his part, has accused critics, whom he did not name, of lying.
“The big lie making the rounds in Texas is that elected or appointed officials want to undermine or de-emphasize research at our colleges and universities,” Perry wrote in a recent column in the American-Statesman. “That disinformation campaign is nothing more than an attempt to shut down an open discussion about ways to improve our state universities and make them more effective, accountable, affordable and transparent.” Read More
By Chace Murphy
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Texas lawmakers are advancing legislation to base some college and university funding on student performance.
The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to free the Higher Education Coordinating Board to create funding formulas for institutions based on student achievement. The bill now returns to the House for a vote. Read More
The Senate passed a measure Tuesday that would link part of higher education funding to the student and university “outcomes” and performance.
The bill carried by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, in the Senate would reconfigure the universities’ formula funding to allow the state to tie no more than10 percent of the funding to graduate rates and other outcomes.
Currently, funding is based on enrollment at the beginning of each semester. Read More
TEXAS STATE CAPITOL – Gov. Rick Perry (last month) emphasized his commitment to making higher education more affordable, accountable and accessible to Texans. The governor was joined by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Commissioner Raymund Paredes, THECB Chairman Fred Heldenfels and House Higher Education Committee Chairman Rep. Dan Branch to announce the release of the inaugural edition of the Texas Public Higher Education Almanac, a publication that spotlights key information about Texas’ higher education institutions in the effort to increase transparency and accountability.
See more @
http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/15988/
AUSTIN, Texas — A University of Texas System regent has requested detailed data on faculty performance, causing some to further question whether some regents are interfering with academics.
Alex Cranberg’s request on Friday was made the day after the UT Board of Regents gave system Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa a unanimous show of support when he told them “universities simply cannot be micromanaged.”
Cigarroa made his appeal for the regent’s trust amid political turmoil over outside efforts to reform higher education in Texas.
Separating research and teaching budgets, and new ways to evaluate teachers are among the reforms — dubbed the “seven breakthrough solutions” — being embraced by a conservative think tank and some backers of Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
Cranberg, who was appointed by Perry in February, wanted the nine UT campuses to advise how quickly they could provide information on teaching workloads, students’ grades and how students rated professors, the Dallas Morning News and Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday.
Some campus officials say a few regents are overstepping their policymaking role when they issue detailed directives to campus leaders, especially those asking for complex data compilations. Read More
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House has approved a measure making public funding for higher education more dependent on student performance. At a time when budget shortfalls are forcing deep cuts in education, the bipartisan bill passed Friday 118-22. It would measure student achievement against state goals when determining funding levels for Texas public universities and colleges. Read More
By William Lutz
UT President William Powers Jr. gave an unusual live address to the UT community Monday. His talk was officially billed as an update on the final days of the legislative session, and his message was that UT is all for change and reform — as long as that change and reform doesn’t disturb the status quo or trample on any academic sacred cows (such as teaching loads).
In short, it was an attempt to mask resistance to change using the rhetoric of change and reform. It’s main goal is to stop education reform ideas promoted by Gov. Rick Perry and recent appointees to the UT System Board of Regents dead in their tracks.
Basically, Powers is arguing that the University of Texas is not immune from change and in fact is changing. He then launched into a passionate defense of academic research. Basically, Powers is hoping Republican lawmakers check conservative principles at the door, and instead opt for his brand of Hope and Change. Read More
By Reeve Hamilton Texas Tribune
A bill allowing a chunk of funding for colleges and universities to be dedicated to “outcomes-based” funding passed through the House today and is headed to the Senate.
Currently, public funding for institutions is allocated according to the number of students that enroll at the beginning of a semester. House Bill 9 by House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, would allow the state to tie a portion of that funding to outcomes such as graduation rates.
The bill is vague on some of the specifics, such has what percentage of the funding should be outcomes-based or precisely which outcomes should be rewarded. Such decisions are largely left to the discretion of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which — like Gov. Rick Perry — supports the concept. Read More
By Mary Tuma
Brenda Pejovich, UT Regent
University of Texas System Regents received an update on the task force for “University Excellence and Productivity” led by UT Regent Brenda Pejovich. While a full report is not expected until August, Pejovich summed up the group’s progress over its six meetings since forming in February.
The update followed the presentation of a framework to increase accountability and transparency at the UT System’s institutions, introduced by Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, who received a unanimous show of support from regents.
Pejovich, a board member of conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation, said her task force focused on furthering research and teaching missions, identifying ‘best practices,’ and implementing the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s ‘cost efficiency’ report – seven key actions spurred by a 2009 directive from Gov. Rick Perry. Read More
MINUTES
SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING
Monday, April 11, 2011
8:00 AM
Capitol Extension, Room E1.012
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule 11.10 and 11.18, a public hearing of
the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding was held on Monday, April 11, 2011, in
the Capitol Extension, Room E1.012, at Austin, Texas. Read More
Gov. Rick Perry said today that he was “amazingly happy” with the Board of Regents for the University of Texas System and the governing boards of other public university systems in the state. Read More
“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas’ population increased by 4.29 million people between 2000 and 2010. During that same time, enrollment at UT Austin increased only 2 percent while operating costs per student increased 62 percent, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. This trend is unsustainable in the long term.
“Anyone who cares about higher education should read the chairman’s note for themselves. Striving to be the best in the nation and serving more students are noble goals. It is the responsibility of the regents to ask these questions and set high goals; it is the job Texans expect them to perform. Too many academically-qualified Texans are denied a college education because of the high cost or enrollment caps, and we enthusiastically commend the regents for asking tough questions and seeking solutions.” Read More
Brooke Brown Online Education News
On February 28 of this year, Austin, Texas governor Rick Perry gave a public speech challenging local universities to create a bachelor’s degree that could be earned by students at the cost of $10,000 or less.
Perry declared that such a cost-effective degree — one that reduces the cost of a Texas education by two-thirds — would be the beginning of a complete makeover of the current state university education model, paying schools based on graduates rather than the current system, which schools based on a tiered system of enrollment. Read More
