The Texas Legislature has passed, and now signed into law, a new funding model to support community colleges and increase the skilled labor force in high-demand jobs across the state. The Legislature developed the funding model after recommendations from The Texas Commission on Community College Finance gave in their proposal to the Texas Legislature late last year.
Their proposal was for the state to fund community colleges based on performance and other measurable outcomes. In short, the idea is to fund community colleges based on students receiving credentials earned in high-demand fields, transfer rates to four-year universities, high school students completing dual credit programs, and enrollment of economically disadvantaged and non-traditional students.
According to Inside Higher Ed, “the new funding model not only encourages colleges to increase students’ degree attainment but counts how many students are earning other credentials as well, which makes it distinct from some performance-based funding models in other states.”
The goal is to expand the educational opportunities for Texans to provide more skilled laborers in high-demand fields. “More than half of jobs in the state require a credential higher than a high school diploma but lower than a bachelor’s degree,” wrote the Texas Tribune.
Additionally, there will be foundational funding from the state based on if the community college can allocate funding through local property taxes. Wherever they fall short of not getting enough funding from local property taxes, the state would make up a base funding for them.
The bill establishes a new Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program. This is a “program to allow eligible students to enroll at no cost to the student in dual credit courses at participating institutions of higher education.” These are for economically disadvantaged students. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board sets how much a college can charge for each dual credit course in the FAST program. The school district or charter school determines if students meet the criteria for the program. That eligibility will be assessed annually by the university.
The FAST program would allow more opportunities for economically disadvantaged students who want to go into the workforce and this would allow them to receive accreditation through this program at no cost.
Furthermore, the bill would also provide the Texas Education Opportunity grant to increase the enrollment of economically disadvantaged students, Then, the bill sets up a Texas Direct Associates degree for students who complete a field of study curriculum and core curriculum. There is also going to be an Opportunity High School Diploma program for adult students in workforce education programs so they can complete a high school diploma concurrent to the program they are taking.