It bothers me when people think of community college as a second-tier option or backup plan. Whether straight out of high school or after a long break from education, community college is a place where hundreds of thousands of Texans go to work toward their dreams. As a new Commission on Community College Finance meets at the Texas Capitol to take a fresh look at how our state funds community colleges, I encourage appointed members to listen to the stories and suggestions of students like me so that others can thrive as I have.
Graduating from high school, I was already living alone trying to make my way through life. I got into a four-year college and began a major in behavioral neuroscience. I took 16 hours of classes each week on top of my full-time job. Even stretching myself so thin, I loved what I was doing. I worked hard and knew that every action I took was in service of my
A newly formed state commission created to address the funding of community colleges will be the first to undertake the effort in nearly 50 years.
Created during the 87th Texas Legislature by state Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, the Commission on Community College Finance is a 12-member group tasked with making recommendations about the state’s funding formula for community colleges ahead of the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023.
El Pasoan Woody Hunt, the commission’s presiding officer, was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The rest of the commission is composed of two state senators, two state representatives and community members.
“I think the role of the commission is to go through a process that creates credibility around our recommendations so that we can convince the Legislature, and the executive branch, that these policies are worth investing in,” Hunt said.
The funding formula for Texas’ 50 community college districts has stayed virtually the same since 1973, while the state’s share of two-year schools’ total budgets has steadily declined from nearly two-thirds to less than one-quarter at a time when an ever-greater percentage of employment requires postsecondary education.
And despite the state’s breakneck 16% population growth during the 2010s, more than half of Texas counties (143 out of 254) lost population, affecting local tax bases that fund community colleges, which can vary widely, from as little as 2% to as much as 70% of a college’s total budget.
To attempt to solve this puzzle, the state legislature established the Commission on Community College Finance, comprising 12 community college administrators, business leaders and other stakeholders who are well-grounded in the mission, programs and finances of public two-year schools
In advance of the 2023 legislative session – what many are hoping will become a “workforce session” – it is essential to look at community colleges’ role in workforce development. It is also crucial that we examine why we place last among large states in the percentage of our population with postsecondary credentials.
To accomplish this, the Texas Legislature established the Commission on Community College Finance, which held its first hearings this week in Austin. Its mission is to craft recommendations for the Legislature to establish a state funding formula and appropriate funding levels to sustain viable community college education and training programs throughout the state.
This mission should also include looking at how Texas’ community colleges can partner with high schools, employers, and four-year colleges to build career pathways that lead to good-paying jobs. The commission
Texas public community colleges are funded differently than their four-year counterparts.
“Community colleges were formed by the taxpayers of an area, and so community colleges have tax revenue based on what those voters have approved,” San Jacinto College Chancellor Brenda Hellyer said.
The other two main portions of funding come from tuition and fees, and state appropriations. It’s been that way in Texas for about 50 years.
But Hellyer says it’s that last funding category that’s especially overdue for some rethinking.
“So the allocation between those three different sources has significantly changed,” Hellyer said. “At one point over those 50 years and for quite a bit of that time, community colleges were funded probably 65% from the state. Right now, that allocation is around 24 to 25% across the state for all community colleges. So [that’s] a big change, moving more dollars of
