I recently sat down with policy leaders from across the country at a meeting hosted by Business Roundtable in Washington, D.C. As you can imagine, the economy and workforce were top of mind for all of us.
Employers statewide are having varying levels of difficulty finding skilled workers. While there’s no one tool that can alleviate this nationwide challenge, there is a toolbox.
Take the Texas Reskilling and Upskilling through Education (TRUE) initiative, for example. This tool was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2021 and focuses on bringing industry and education together to launch or upgrade industry-aligned, high-demand career programs that can be completed in six months or less. Under TRUE, Texas has already directed $26 million to skills training at 46 colleges and multi-college collaboratives across the state, with $15 million more recently announced. TRUE also aligns with Tex
Austin, TX - The Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) is under new leadership. Effective June 1, 2022, Dr. Martha Ellis will serve as the newInterim President & Chief Executive Officer for the association. Jacob Fraire, previous acting president, has accepted a new role as Director of Policy for the University of Texas at El Paso, Institute for Hispanic Student Success.
Dr. Ellis holds more than 35 years of experience in community colleges in Texas and New Mexico including two college presidencies, provost, chief information officer, undergraduate dean, and faculty member. For the past several years she has worked closely with the association as a Texas Pathways Coach and Senior Pathways Lead forwarding the mission of Texas Success Center to increase student success through Texas Pathways.
“I have deep respect for the mission ofthe association and the evolutionary work it
In February 2020, Comptroller Glenn Hegar rebooted his Good for Texas Tour by highlighting the impact of Texas community colleges. The comptroller estimated that, with 700,000 students, community colleges contributed about $9.8 billion annually to the Texas economy and that the higher pay for individuals with some college or an associate degree raised annual wages by more than $27 billion.
The global pandemic has upended learning on college campuses across our state, challenging students’ pursuit of post-secondary degrees in profound ways. Preliminary data shows community college enrollment may have dropped by about 85,000 students (up to 12%) since fall 2019. Although this dip will adversely affect generations of incoming students, community colleges must continue to rise to the challenge of meeting the needs of our students and employers in communities across Texas.
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
