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Higher education
November 5, 2009
UPDATE: Board acts afresh on tuition plan's refund policy
UPDATED, 10:28 a.m.: The board that oversees the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan, which was once called the Texas Tomorrow Fund, voted this morning to adopt State Comptroller Susan Combs’ proposal to back off an earlier declared change in how the pre-paid tuition program pays refunds. (Read our preview skinny here.)
I’m there and Twittered play by play via twitter.com/gardnerselby.
At least two additional twists developed that will be critical to more than 100,000 holders of the pre-paid tuition contracts.
First, the board agreed to extend until Jan. 31 the time period during which participants can still request lump-sum refunds reflecting their initial investments plus earnings, less administrative fees.
Second, the board directed the plan’s staff to enable about 5,000 participants who have already received refunds to re-join the plan, evidently without getting penalized. Participants who have already rolled their refunds into out-of-state 529 funds would face tax penalties for re-joining the plan this year; the board told staff to offer these participants a return to the plan if they say they want back in by Dec. 31 and then re-join by making installment payments through 2010. (If you’re in the plan, watch for a letter spelling this out in detail.)
No board members objected to these moves today, though two asked questions of Combs, its chair.
Combs said she plans to ask the 2011 Legislature to consider injecting about $65 million a year into the plan to ensure its solvency. If that starts happening in the 2012-13 budget period, Combs said, and if such infusions continue for eight years more, the plan will close its projected shortfall, which (depending on investment returns) runs from $1.5 billion to $3 billion.
Combs said too she expects lawmakers to carry out an interim study of the plan’s financial challenges. If that happens, it’ll be announced either by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who orders such studies by the Texas Senate, or House Speaker Joe Straus, who does the same for the House.
“This is a legislatively created program,” Combs said. “I do believe the Legislature will craft a solution in the 2011 session.”
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June 1, 2009
Community college benefits measure dies
The Texas Senate adjourned Monday evening without considering the House version of a measure authorizing state-funded health insurance for community college employees.
The issue first flared two years ago when Gov. Rick Perry vetoed $154 million in community college funding.
The sponsor of Senate Bill 42, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for permission to bring the measure up for debate, but he recognized a motion to adjourn instead.
Zaffirini had sought to address the question of health benefits for community college employees who are eligible for state-funded salaries even though the state doesn’t pay their salaries. Her bill, as amended by the House, would have made community college employees eligible for state-funded health insurance regardless of whether their salaries are actually paid by the state.
The governor’s office, community college representatives, the House and sufficient senators to gain passage all supported the legislation, Zaffirini said.
Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, has objected to the state funding benefits for community college employees whose salaries aren’t paid by the state. State funding for benefits should be proportional to state funding of salaries, he said.
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Resolution urges regents to limit tuition increases
The Texas House unanimously approved a resolution today that calls on the governing boards of the state’s 35 public universities to limit increases in tuition and mandatory fees to 3.95 percent or $280 a year, whichever is greater.
The resolution now goes to the Senate. The measure, House Concurrent Resolution 288, is nonbinding, meaning that boards of regents would not be required to comply with it.
“We hope this sends a strong message to higher education to be very prudent and careful with tuition,” said the sponsor, Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas.
Legislation that would have required regents to limit tuition increases passed the Senate but died in the House.
The resolution urges regents to impose the annual cap of 3.95 percent or $280 for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years. In the 2013-14 academic year, charges would be limited to an increase of 3.95 percent or the average of two inflation indexes.
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May 31, 2009
Top-tier measure heads to governor
Legislation intended to lift some of the state’s public universities to top-tier status has passed the House and Senate and now goes to Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to sign it.
The measure, House Bill 51, also includes authorization for a $150 million bond issue for the hurricane-damaged University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, part of a $1.3 billion package of funding for that campus, and $5 million for Texas A&M University-Galveston.
Seven so-called emerging research universities would compete for extra funding in hopes of joining the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University as nationally recognized research institutions. Rice University, which is private, is also a top-tier school.
The 2010-11 budget approved by the Legislature includes $50 million for the emerging universities in addition to their normal appropriations. The $50 million would be parceled out based on which schools raise the most money from private donations for enhancing research and recruiting faculty members.
Officials of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board say it could take 20 years and considerably more funding for even one of the seven emerging institutions — UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, UT-San Antonio, UT-El Paso, the University of North Texas, the University of Houston and Texas Tech University — to rise into the big leagues
Still, lawmakers and higher education leaders said passage of the legislation represents a commitment that, in time, should lead to the development of more high-demand universities, reducing pressure on UT-Austin under the state’s automatic-admission law.
“This is one of those real privileges to carry this legislation,” said Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas.
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UTIMCO legislation 'a long shot'
Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, has been trying for months to increase oversight of the University of Texas Investment Management Co., the private nonprofit charged with handling billions of dollars in endowments and other higher education funds. Ogden is, by his own admission, running out of time.
His stand-alone legislation has died. An amendment to another bill won Senate approval, but that bill has essentially died in the House.
“I would say it’s a long shot now,” said Ogden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
His proposal called for modifying the makeup of UTIMCO’s board and bringing the multibillion-dollar Permanent University Fund under the oversight of a pension and investment review board.
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Top tier, health benefits, UTMB in play
Health insurance for community college employees, a plan to increase the number of top-tier universities and a $150 million bond for a medical school have become hung up in a dispute that has some House and Senate members huddling periodically with each other in an effort to find a resolution.
The health insurance measure, Senate Bill 42, would settle the “proportionality” issue that flared two years ago when Gov. Rick Perry vetoed $154 million in community college funding. But Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, objects to the prospect of the state funding benefits for community college employees whose salaries aren’t paid by the state.
The sponsor of SB 42, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, notes that the community college employees are eligible for state-funded salaries even though the state doesn’t provide full funding for that purpose.
What’s more, she said, the legislation is an agreed-to deal involving the governor’s office, the community colleges, the House and sufficient senators to gain passage. Senators were unclear whether Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst would allow Zaffirini to bring up the bill for debate and a vote.
Some lawmakers apparently have suggested that, if SB 42 isn’t passed, the House might kill HB 51, the top-tier legislation that includes many features written by Duncan.
But Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, the author of HB 51, said he’ll move to keep it alive. One option: Discharge, or set aside, the House-Senate conference committee report on HB 51 and concur with the Senate version, Branch said.
That would sacrifice a $150 million tuition revenue bond added in conference for the hurricane-damaged University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, said he’s working to keep HB 51 intact.
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New fight over higher ed bill
Late word is that some Senate Republicans are trying to kill Senate Bill 42, a higher-ed benefits measure they insist will cost too much money.
A final, agreed-to version of the measure was slated for debate and approval in the Senate today.
“They’re trying to make this a partisan issue,” said state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo. “There is no cost-driver in this bill. That is not true.”
Approval now may not happen, senators on both sides of the issue say. Dems and Repubs are both caucusing in closed-door meetings at this hour.
So upset are some House leaders about the last-minute Senate glitch that they’re reported to be considering knocking off House Bill 51, the important top-tier bill that would queue up funding for emerging research universities in Texas.
Stay tuned.
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UT president praises changes in automatic-admission law
William Powers Jr., president of the University of Texas at Austin, is pleased that the Legislature has approved a measure that allows his school to limit the number of students it accepts under the state’s automatic-admission law.
“This is a very positive development for the university,” Powers said. “It allows us to get control of our class size and admissions process. I am very grateful to everyone who worked so hard on this issue, especially Chairman Florence Shapiro in the Senate and Chairman Dan Branch in the House.”
The Senate, on the recommendation of Shapiro, R-Plano, who filed Senate Bill 175, agreed on Saturday to go along with amendments added by the House. Gov. Rick Perry is expected to sign the measure.
The bill allows UT-Austin — and only UT-Austin — to limit the number of students accepted under the 1997 law, which entitles any student in the top 10 percent of a high school graduating class in Texas to attend any of the state’s 35 public universities.
SB 175 allows the Austin flagship to limit such students to 75 percent of its entering freshmen from Texas. Last fall’s freshmen constituted 81 percent.
In addition, students from other states and countries could together make up no more than 10 percent of freshmen at UT-Austin. Such non-Texans currently constitute 7.5 percent of freshmen.
Thus, if UT-Austin enrolled the maximum number of out-of-state and foreign students and limited top 10 percent students as much as the measure allows, top 10 percent students would constitute 67.5 percent of all freshmen, down from the current 76 percent.
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May 29, 2009
Rep. Eiland to aid UTMB 'by hook or crook'
Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, has been a key player in putting together a funding package to help the hurricane-damaged University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston get back on its feet.
He says there’s just one problem: $150 million is missing from the $1.3 billion package.
Eiland told House members today that the $150 million had been included in House Bill 4586, a supplemental budget bill, but was removed to accommodate a state employee pay raise.
The $150 million was then added to a fiscal matters measure, Senate Bill 2567, in the form of a tuition revenue bond, so-called because repayment of such bonds is guaranteed by tuition even though they are typically paid off with legislative appropriations. The fiscal matters bill was approved by the Senate but is essentially dead in the House, said Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, the House appropriations chairman.
Eiland said in an interview that he initially hoped to tack the $150 million item onto HB 51, which deals with research universities. But the “war between the Senate and the House” might preclude that, he said.
So how is he going to salvage the $150 million? “By hook or crook,” Eiland said.
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May 28, 2009
Senate to go along with House on top 10 percent law
The Senate will go along with the House version of legislation scaling back the state’s automatic-admission law for the University of Texas at Austin, the bill’s author said today.
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said in an interview that she would reluctantly ask fellow senators to concur with the House version even though she and they much prefer the upper chamber’s language in Senate Bill 175. Senatorial courtesy essentially dictates that senators follow the author’s lead on such matters.
“I’ll concur because I believe that the university wants this,” Shapiro said. “I don’t believe that it is appropriate. I don’t think it provides nearly enough relief.”
Gov. Rick Perry has called for limits on the automatic-admission law for years and would be expected to sign the legislation.
The law, enacted in 1997 in an effort to boost diversity in UT-Austin’s undergraduate student body, entitles any student in the top 10 percent of a high school graduating class in Texas to enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities. UT-Austin is increasingly the school of choice, with 81 percent of its freshmen from Texas having gained admission under the law last fall.
Under the House version, UT-Austin could limit top 10 percent students to 75 percent of entering freshmen from Texas. The Senate version would have allowed the university to cap automatic admissions at 60 percent, giving the school more discretion over whom to admit.
University officials had said all along that they wanted to cap admissions at about 50 percent or 60 percent.
“But this is a decision that was made between the House and the university and I will uphold the university’s decision,” Shapairo said.
House members had threatened to kill the legislation if it came back from the Senate with any changes.
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May 26, 2009
House approves top 10 percent measure
The Texas House gave final approval this morning, as expected, to legislation that would allow the University of Texas at Austin to limit the number of students it accepts under the state’s automatic-admission law. The vote was 123 to 20.
The measure now goes to the Senate, which has already approved a version of the bill that would apply to all 35 public universities in Texas and that would let them impose greater limits on automatic admissions.
The legislation would alter a 1997 law that entitles students in the top 10 percent of their Texas high school graduating class to enroll at any public university in the state.
Under the House version of Senate Bill 175, UT-Austin could limit such students to 75 percent of entering freshmen from Texas. The Senate version would allow all 35 universities to limit top 10 percent students to 60 percent of their Texas freshmen.
Some House members who were instrumental in the legislation have said they want the Senate to go along with the House version rather than assign a conference committee to work out differences.
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May 25, 2009
House approves changes in top 10 percent law for UT-Austin
The Texas House approved legislation today that would scale back the state’s automatic admission law — but only for the University of Texas at Austin.
Currently, any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school can enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities.
Under the House version of Senate Bill 175, which was given preliminary approval today, UT-Austin could limit top 10 percent students to 75 percent of its freshmen from Texas. The university would admit the top 1 percent, the top 2 percent and so forth until the cap is reached.
The Senate’s version of the measure would allow any university, not just UT-Austin, to cap enrollment of top 10 percent students at 60 percent of freshmen from Texas.
UT-Austin is the only school that has sought limits on the 1997 law, arguing that it has too little discretion in admissions, with 81 percent of last fall’s freshmen from Texas having enrolled under the law.
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House approves changes in top 10 percent law for UT-Austin
The Texas House approved legislation today that would scale back the state’s automatic admission law — but only for the University of Texas at Austin.
Currently, any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school can enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities.
Under the House version of Senate Bill 175, which was given preliminary approval today, UT-Austin could limit top 10 percent students to 75 percent of its freshmen from Texas. The university would admit the top 1 percent, the top 2 percent and so forth until the cap is reached.
The Senate’s version of the measure would allow any university, not just UT-Austin, to cap enrollment of top 10 percent students at 60 percent of freshmen from Texas.
UT-Austin is the only school that has sought limits on the 1997 law, arguing that it has too little discretion in admissions, with 81 percent of last fall’s freshmen from Texas having enrolled under the law.
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House slogging its way through top 10 percent bill
The House is working its way through a modification of the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities today, and it hasn’t been a quick process. Debate began at 11:34 a.m. and, as of shortly after 3 p.m., shows no sign of ending.
The lengthy discussion is in part an effort by Democrats to “chub,” or delay House proceedings, in an effort to kill a voter-identification measure.
There nevertheless appears to be a consensus in the chamber on altering the admission law, which entitles any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school to attend any of the state’s 35 public universities.
House members overwhelmingly approved a provision that would alter the law only for the University of Texas at Austin. Under that provision, UT-Austin could limit top 10 percent students to 75 percent of entering freshmen from Texas starting in 2011.
UT-Austin’s authority to limit admission this way would expire after 2015 unless lawmakers renewed the authority.
Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, told House members that UT President William Powers Jr. and UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa had agreed to the terms and would ask the Senate to concur. The Senate version of the Senate Bill 175 would allow any university, not just UT-Austin, to cap admissions of top 10 percent students at 60 percent of entering freshmen from Texas.
The House has yet to vote on its version of SB 175. Thus far, more than 40 amendments have been considered.
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Deal apparently reached on top 10 percent law
A deal apparently has been struck to scale back the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities.
The centerpiece is a provision that would allow the universities to limit admission of students ranking in the top 10 percent of their Texas high school graduating classes to 75 percent of entering freshmen from Texas. It apparently would apply to all 35 public universities, but it’s aimed mainly at the University of Texas at Austin.
The deal was first reported by Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka. However, a well-placed source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak publicly, said this morning that certain other provisions have yet to be resolved.
Specifically, negotiations are still under way on the following provisions:
— New reforms do not apply if UT-Austin admits fewer students from high schools in the bottom quintile of college-going rates, based on a two-year rolling average.
— New reforms do not apply if a court order or board of regents prohibits the use of race or ethnicity in the admissions process.
— New reforms do not apply if UT-Austin fails to improve outreach and recruitment of undergrads from other general academic teaching institutions to their graduate programs.
UT-Austin President William Powers Jr. had sought to cap automatic admissions at about half of entering freshmen from Texas. So a 75 percent cap would give the university substantially less freedom in deciding whom to admit. On the other hand, it’s better than the status quo from the university’s point of view. Eighty-one percent of last fall’s freshmen from Texas got in under the law.
The measure, Senate Bill 175, sponsored in the House by Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, is expected to come up for House debate today.
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May 22, 2009
Rep. Branch facing uphill fight on top 10 percent
State Rep. Dan Branch knew as soon as he stepped to the microphone Thursday that his proposal to scale back the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities was facing a tough fight.
He had barely uttered two words before Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, raised a procedural objection called a point of order to any further consideration of the measure, Senate Bill 175. It would be 40 minutes before the parliamentarian reviewed the matter and Speaker Joe Straus overruled the point of order.
The House wound up debating the measure for 4 hours and 40 minutes before problems with the chamber’s computer system cut off discussion. It’s unclear when the House will resume debate today.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that Branch is unlikely to get his way on some key features of the bill. For example, the representatives approved an amendment by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, that would retain an important provision of the existing law for 34 public universities while altering that provision solely for a 35th, the University of Texas at Austin.
Specifically, students in the top 10 percent of their Texas high school graduating class would still be able to attend any public university in the state - except for applicants to UT-Austin, who would have to rank in the top 8 percent to enjoy the entitlement.
Asked today whether he hopes to undo that amendment, Branch replied: “We might be able to smooth it a bit.”
As for the bill’s overall prospects, he said, “I’m optimistic we’ll be able to work something out.”
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UT's Powers opposes handguns on campus
William Powers Jr., president of the University of Texas, has weighed in on the question of whether concealed handguns should be allowed on college campuses. His answer, in a nutshell: no.
Powers opined on the matter in a column in today’s paper.
“Youth, inexperience, alcohol and many other factors contribute to students making poor choices as they adjust to college life,” Powers wrote. “Adding concealed handguns to that equation has the potential to transform a minor disagreement at a party into a deadly outcome. A depressed student unhappy with grades could irrevocably harm himself, his professor or his classmates.”
The Senate has approved legislation that would allow people licensed to carry concealed handguns to do so on college campuses, although the measure would allow private schools to bar weapons. The measure, Senate Bill 1164, is pending in the House. Its chances for passage in that chamber would appear to be fading as the legislative session nears its conclusion. On the other hand, it still might have a chance in a gun-friendly legislature.
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May 21, 2009
House debates top 10 percent admission law
The Texas House spent 4 hours and 40 minutes today debating whether and how to scale back the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities without reaching a resolution. The debate is expected to resume Friday.
Some signs of the chamber’s leanings emerged, though. For instance, the members approved an amendment that would tweak the law solely for students applying to the University of Texas.
Currently, any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school is entitled to enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities. The amendment would alter that to 8 percent for UT applicants.
The Senate has already passed legislation that would allow all public universities to limit top 10 percent students to 60 percent of their freshmen from Texas.
“This is a tough subject,” said Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, the sponsor of the House measure, who favors the Senate’s limitations. “You always go into it careful and cautious.”
Branch said the 8 percent benchmark for UT would be “marginally better” than current law. In addition, he said, it might be easier to pass in the House than the Senate version.
UT is the only school seeking limits on the top 10 percent law. School officials say the law has come to account for too many of its entering students, with 81 percent of last fall’s freshmen having enrolled under it.
This makes it difficult to admit students who did not rank in the top 10 percent but were nevertheless attractive prospects because of leadership skills, artistic talent, a passion for geosciences and other qualities, officials say.
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May 14, 2009
The Stephen F. Austin, Sul Ross, Sam Houston Preservation Act
The Texas House on Friday, probably, will strike a blow to preserve the names of some of the state’s all-time greats.
HB425 by Rep. Wayne Christian, set for Friday’s local, consent and resolutions calendar, would bar changing “the names of certain public institutions of higher education that are named after state historical figures.”
Here’s what the bill analysis says: “Some colleges and universities in Texas have been renamed, either to reflect an affiliation with a university system or for other reasons. In certain cases, renaming has resulted in the loss of a name with historical significance and has caused an adverse reaction on the part of some aggrieved alumni.”
It’s one thing to change Southwest Texas State University to Texas State University. But it would be another if a change took Stephen F. Austin’s name off the state university in Nacogdoches (that’s Steve on the right) or Sam Houston’s off the state university in Huntsville or Sul Ross’ off the state university in Alpine.
Hence, HB425, which bars a name change “in a manner that removes the name of (an) established historical figure from the name of the institution.”
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May 13, 2009
Thoughts are with Kuempel and family, governor says
Gov. Rick Perry, speaking at a swearing-in ceremony this morning for regents of the University of Texas System, expressed hope that state Rep. Edmund Kuempel would have a speedy recovery. The Republican from Seguin collapsed Tuesday evening at the Capitol and was taken to University Medical Center at Brackenridge.
“All of us are thinking about Edmund Kuempel and his family” and are praying for a speedy recovery, Perry said.
The governor administered the oath of office to new regents R. Steven Hicks, William Eugene Powell and Robert L. Stillwell, as well as to James Huffines, whom he reappointed.
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May 8, 2009
Proposal to modify Texas Grant program dead, senator says
An effort to give priority to higher-achieving students in awarding financial aid under the state’s main grant program has fizzled.
“The bill’s dead,” state Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said today.
Ogden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was referring to his proposal to put higher-performing students at the head of the line when it comes to awarding money from the Texas Grant program.
Currently, students with the greatest financial need have priority, although officials with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board say there is also a first-come, first-served flavor to the process.
The question of which approach to take is significant because the Legislature has provided sufficient funding only for about half of all eligible students to receive a grant, which can be as much as $6,080 a year for a student attending a public university.
Ogden said he didn’t have enough votes to pass the bill, especially this late in the legislative session.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I think financial aid should have two components to it: need plus merit.”
The House refused to go along with a similar proposal that was debated on Tuesday and Wednesday in that chamber. Instead, House members modified the measure by Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, to simply require a study of the issue by the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
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May 7, 2009
Rep. Howard blocked on Texas Grants bill
Members of the Texas House might not be willing to put enough money into the Texas Grants program so that every eligible low-income college student gets an award, but they aren’t inclined to mess with the ground rules, either.
That much became clear Wednesday evening when Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, failed to secure enough votes to advance her proposal to modify how the college aid is doled out. The money is currently awarded to students with the greatest financial need. Howard wanted higher-achieving students to be first in line, noting that all students eligible for the grant have financial need.
I have a story about the matter in today’s paper.
The House revised Howard’s bill to call instead for a study by the Higher Education Coordinating Board of ways to prioritize the awarding of grants.
The debate this session isn’t over, though. Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, has a similar bill awaiting consideration by the full Senate.
There’s nothing wrong with taking merit into account, Ogden said. “But it’s going to be hard to pass,” he added.
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May 6, 2009
Rep. Howard's financial aid bill delayed -- again
State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, just can’t seem to get any traction on her student financial aid proposal.
The measure came up on the House floor on Tuesday but, after some debate, was postponed until 10 a.m. today. Legislative time being what it is, the bill actually came up just before 3 p.m.
Then, after a short debate, it was postponed again, to 4:15 today. That time has come and gone.
Howard’s proposal, House Bill 3276, would revise the way that public colleges and universities award financial aid under the Texas Grant program. Currently, the students with the greatest financial need receive aid first, although there is also a first-come, first-served flavor to the process.
Under her proposal, higher-performing students would get grants before lower-achieving students. Only about half of eligible students receive aid under the program, which is restricted to students with financial need who completed the recommended or advanced high school curriculum.
Some lawmakers oppose her proposal, asserting that it could reduce the number of awards going to the lowest-income students, many of whom are black or Hispanic.
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May 5, 2009
House postpones further debate on college grants
A proposal to give priority to higher-achieving students for the state’s main college scholarship program ran into opposition in the Texas House today. The measure’s author, Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, sought and received permission to postpone debate until Wednesday morning.
Howard’s House Bill 3276 would not change who is eligible for the need-based Texas Grant. But it would put students who are deemed college-ready, based on various standardized tests, ahead of other students when it comes to receiving grants. The grants are currently awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
Howard said her proposal makes sense in light of the fact that the Legislature hasn’t allocated enough money to the program to award a grant to all eligible students.
“This is triage if we’re not going to fully fund it,” Howard said, noting that college-ready students are more likely to graduate than their counterparts who are less well prepared.
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said he was concerned that students who would wind up at the head of the line aren’t necessarily those with the greatest financial need.
“You are re-allocating who comes first and who comes second,” Turner said.
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May 4, 2009
Senate approves limits on tuition increases
The Texas Senate unanimously approved legislation today that would sharply restrict the ability of public university governing boards to raise tuition. The measure now goes to the House.
Lawmakers granted boards of regents virtually unfettered authority in 2003 to control tuition. Increases since then have prompted something of a legislative backlash.
Some lawmakers wanted to withdraw all tuition-setting power from regents. Others had proposed a temporary moratorium on increases.
Senate Bill 1443, whose primary author is Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would allow governing boards to raise tuition, mandatory fees and course fees at the state’s 35 public universities, but it would strictly limit such increases.
For example, after a two-year transition period, schools such as the University of Texas could not raise their charges by more than 5 percent or the rate of inflation as calculated by the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. If the Legislature increased appropriations to a school, its ability to boost academic charges would be reduced accordingly.
“Frankly, this is intended to pressure the Legislature to keep tuition down by funding higher education appropriately,” Zaffirini said.
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April 30, 2009
Senate approves plan for top-tier university fund
The Texas Senate approved legislation today that spells out benchmarks so-called emerging research universities would have to reach to qualify for extra funding.
The vote was 29-2.
The measure, Senate Bill 1560, is intended to help the seven emerging institutions achieve top tier, or tier one, status — in other words, to be recognized as among the nation’s leading research campuses.
The bill lists various criteria — including size of endowment, number of Ph.D. degrees awarded each year and research spending — that schools would have to meet to qualify for distributions from a proposed national research university fund. Schools would have to meet most, but not all, of the criteria to qualify.
A lengthy debate about the standards began Wednesday on the Senate floor and continued today. Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, sought to reduce to 100 the number of Ph.D. degrees a university would have to award to satisfy one of the criteria.
Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, the author of the legislation, insisted that the 200-degree benchmark in his bill be maintained. Senators shot down Shapleigh’s effort to reduce the standard, 20-11.
Shapleigh, who voted against the bill, said the larger flaw is a lack of state leadership on higher education and inadequate funding for public universities.
Senators approved a companion bill Wednesday that, subject to funding, would create a pathway for the emerging universities to ascend to the top tier of research universities in the nation.
Currently, only the University of Texas and Texas A&M University are considered top tier universities. The emerging institutions are UT-El Paso, UT-San Antonio, UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, the University of Houston, Texas Tech University and the University of North Texas.
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April 29, 2009
Senate approves one top-tier measure, postpones debate on another
The Texas Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation intended to elevate some of the state’s public universities to top-tier status.
But senators postponed action until Thursday on a companion bill that would spell out how the universities would qualify for some of the extra funding to strive toward that goal.
Only two public universities in the state rank as top tier schools, also known as tier one or national research universities: the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said her measure, Senate Bill 9, would create a pathway for seven so-called emerging research universities to shoot for the big leagues. Those schools are UT-El Paso, UT-San Antonio, UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, the University of Houston, Texas Tech University and the University of North Texas.
The companion measure, SB 1560, authored by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, would require the schools to reach certain benchmarks of academic excellence to be eligible for money from a proposed research university fund. Senators postponed consideration of that bill after Duncan and Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, disagreed about one of the criteria for qualifying — specifically, a provision regarding how many Ph.D degrees a school would have to award each year.
The House last week passed House Bill 51, authored by Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, which includes many of the features in the Senate bills.
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Ogden scales back proposal to overhaul UTIMCO
Proposed legislation that would dramatically overhaul the investment arm of the University of Texas System Board of Regents has been scaled back considerably. Officials of the University of Texas Investment Management Co. still aren’t thrilled about it, though.
“Clearly, the committee substitute is vastly preferable to the original bill,” Erle Nye, chairman of UTIMCO, told the Senate Higher Education Committee this morning, referring to the revamped measure. “The question becomes, is there something broken that needs to be fixed?”
The revised Senate Bill 2348, by Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, would eliminate the UT System chancellor as a member of UTIMCO’s board of directors and add a second director nominated by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. UTIMCO manages various higher education endowments, including the multibillion-dollar Permanent University Fund, which benefits the UT and A&M systems.
The measure would require UTIMCO to give at least 30 days’ notice to the governor and the Legislative Budget Board before agreeing to pay a bonus to an employee or making such a payment.
The original version of Ogden’s bill would have required approval from the governor, the state attorney general and the budget board for bonuses. It also would have reduced UTIMCO’s nine-member board to seven, with the governor appointing three directors, the UT regents appointing three and the A&M regents appointing one.
The revised version would retain a nine-member board appointed by the UT regents, with two chosen from names submitted by the A&M regents.
Ogden was not present for the hearing on his bill, and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, chairwoman of the committee, said it would be left pending. Ogden has been pushing for changes at UTIMCO since learning that the company approved more than $3 million in bonuses for employees as its holdings were plunging in value.
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April 28, 2009
Tuition measure anything but simple
State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said today that the goal of her proposal to regulate tuition at the state’s 35 public universities is simple: “This puts pressure on the Legislature to appropriate more money.”
But just how Senate Bill 1443 would operate is anything but simple. And although it’s true that the measure would link tuition and appropriations, it’s not entirely clear that this would prompt lawmakers to raise appropriations even though there might be pressure to do so.
The bill, which was approved last week by the Senate Higher Education Committee, which Zaffirini chairs, lays out a detailed regulatory scheme for tuition in its 18 pages. In general, university governing boards could raise tuition and fees by the lesser of 5 percent or the inflation rate as calculated by a three-year rolling average of the Consumer Price Index.
But there are numerous exceptions. For example, most universities could raise charges by the greater of 5 percent or $315 for the 2009-10 academic year.
One thing seems clear, though: Proposals to impose a temporary freeze on tuition appear to be all but dead. Some senators who had filed such proposals have signed onto Zaffirini’s bill. In fact, she has lined up 22 colleagues as co-authors.
Another sign that a moratorium on tuition increases isn’t in the cards: House Speaker Joe Straus said last week that he believes lawmakers should proceed cautiously when it comes to limiting tuition increases at public universities.
“Personally, we need to be very careful if we limit or cap increases,” the Republican from San Antonio said. “The funding has to come from somewhere.”
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April 24, 2009
Senate panel approves tuition limits
A proposal that would limit the authority of public university governing boards to raise tuition cleared the Senate Higher Education Committee today and now goes to the full Senate.
Senate Bill 1443, by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, who chairs the panel, would limit increases in tuition and mandatory fees at the 35 institutions in various ways depending on a school’s current charges, recent increases and other circumstances. The limits include the inflation rate, 5 percent, $315 a year and $630 a year. The amount of legislative appropriations is also factored into the calculations.
Lawmakers have been considering about a dozen tuition-related bills this session. Any controls on tuition would amount to a major policy shift. Lawmakers gave governing boards unfettered authority to control tuition in 2003.
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House approves plan to lift universities to top tier
The Texas House today gave preliminary approval — and then final approval — to legislation intended to boost the number of top-tier research universities in the state.
The measure, House Bill 51, would provide extra funding — assuming the cash is authorized by lawmakers — to reward schools for raising gifts, hiring top faculty members, increasing research and otherwise improving their profile.
“This has been a great team effort,” said the author, Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, the chairman of the House Higher Education Committee.
That was a bit of an understatement, considering that his bill had more than 80 co-authors.
Texas currently has just three top-tier universities: the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and Rice University, the latter being private.
Seven schools are considered emerging research universities: UT-El Paso, UT-San Antonio, UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, the University of Houston, Texas Tech University and the University of North Texas.
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April 23, 2009
Speaker recommends caution on limiting tuition
House Speaker Joe Straus said today that he believes lawmakers should proceed cautiously when it comes to limiting tuition increases at public universities.
“Personally, we need to be very careful if we limit or cap increases,” the Republican from San Antonio said in an interview. “The funding has to come from somewhere.”
Straus stopped short of saying he opposed or favored legislative controls on tuition, which has been the province of governing boards since 2003.
His comments, which he emphasized reflect his personal view, suggest a certain unease with some of the dozen or so measures under consideration by lawmakers. The proposals include a freeze on increases, a percentage cap on increases and a freeze followed by a cap. Still other proposals would take legislative appropriations into account in the calculation of how much tuition could rise.
The House and Senate higher education committees are grappling with the issue, and neither panel has voted out a proposal.
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April 22, 2009
Plan to elevate universities advances
Two measures intended to lift more public universities in Texas to national prominence were approved today by the Senate Higher Education Committee. The proposals now go to the full Senate.
The state currently has two public universities with nationally prominent research programs, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. The legislation seeks to give seven others a shot at the top tier by providing additional state funding for which they would compete. The seven so-called emerging research universities are UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington, UT-San Antonio, UT-El Paso, the University of North Texas, the University of Houston and Texas Tech University.
The schools would compete on the basis of such measures as research grants, gifts and doctoral degrees awarded. The amount of funding has not been nailed down.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the chairwoman of the Senate committee, said she was pleased that her Senate Bill 9, as well as S.B. 1560 by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, both advanced.
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April 20, 2009
Prospects iffy for giving student regents a vote
Proposed legislation would give student regents on public university governing boards the one thing they currently lack: a vote.
But proponents aren’t holding their breath on the proposal becoming law. When it comes to higher education this session, lawmakers are much more interested in imposing limits on tuition and creating incentives that might lift one or more universities to top-tier status.
Still, Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, will at least get a chance to plead the case for giving student regents a vote on boards of regents. Student regents currently participate in discussions, including closed-door meetings, but do not vote or count toward a quorum. West’s Senate Bill 226 is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Higher Education Committee on Wednesday.
Over in the House, an identical bill filed by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, is pending in that chamber’s Higher Education Committee. No hearing has been scheduled, but if West’s measure clears committee and the full Senate, look for Rose to shoulder it in the House.
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April 15, 2009
Not too early for humor at higher education hearing
State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is known for punctuality. True to form, she gaveled her Higher Education Committee to order at 7 o’clock sharp this morning.
She’s also known for working long hours. Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, took note of that fact as he began to outline one of his legislative proposals.
“Good morning,” Estes said to the packed hearing room in the underground Capitol Extension. “Actually, it’s about noon-time for Senator Zaffirini.”
To which she replied: “I arrived at 2:15 this morning.”
To which Estes replied: “I got in around 2:15,” meaning that he was turning in for the night as she was getting up for the day.
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April 6, 2009
Research fund resolution okayed
In a potentially historic move, the state Senate this afternoon took a first step to create the National Research University Fund to help expend the number of top-shelf research universities in Texas.
The Upper Chamber approved Senate Joint Resolution 35 that would ask voters to amend the state Constitition to create the new fund — a move that sponsor Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, called “an historic vote if we create a new state endowment.
“This is the bill by which we would give institutions additional tools to compete, not against themselves, but to get to the point of being a national research university,” Duncan said. “This is the session to send the big message … This is the first step.”
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April 1, 2009
Sen. Patrick, newly armed with gavel, predicts action on tuition
There’s nothing like presenting a gavel to a fellow senator to get a hearing off on a positive note. That’s what Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, did this morning at the outset of a hearing on restricting increases in public university tuition.
Zaffirini, who is chairwoman of the Higher Education Committee, presented the gavel to Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, who she said is “doing a wonderful job” as vice chairman.
A short time later, Patrick predicted that some sort of legislative brake on tuition would be approved by senators: “Obviously, there’s unified support in the Texas Senate to do something, and something is going to move forward.”
But just what might move forward is uncertain. Zaffirini’s proposal would bar boards of regents from raising tuition by more than 5 percent a year. If the Legislature increased appropriations, tuition could rise no more than what would be needed to achieve a 5 percent increase in the combination of tuition and appropriations.
With 21 co-authors in the 31-member Texas Senate, Zaffirini would appear to be in a good position. On the other hand, a competing proposal by Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, has an equal number of authors and co-authors. His measure would impose a two-year moratorium on tuition increases and limit increases thereafter to the rate of inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index.
The hearing dealt only with Zaffirini’s bill, but Hinojosa and other senators offered their proposals as amendments. The bill and the amendments will be left pending while discussions continue in an effort to reach a consensus, Zaffirini said.
“The bill is merely a starting point,” she said. “It will change.”
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March 30, 2009
UTIMCO gets an easier ride second time around
It wasn’t exactly a kumbaya moment, but officials of the University of Texas Investment Management Co. got a much friendlier reception before the Senate Finance Committee today than they did last month.
Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, the chairman of the committee, set the tone as UTIMCO Chairman Erle Nye settled into a witness chair: “You’re donating even more of your time to come down here and testify.”
A little while later, Ogden told UTIMCO CEO Bruce Zimmerman: “I was a little bit sorry that you became the brunt of all the slings and arrows that happened a month ago.”
Last month, Ogden and other committee members grilled Zimmerman and Robert Rowling, then chairman of UTIMCO, over more than $3 million in bonuses paid to the investment company’s staff as the markets were tanking. Rowling resigned on the spot as chairman and as a UT System regent.
Nye, who has been on UTIMCO’s board for four years, was then elected its chairman. A former chairman of the A&M System Board of Regents, Nye is a familiar face at the Capitol. And it probably didn’t hurt that A&M is in Ogden’s district. Nye defended UTIMCO’s governance, operations, ethics and compensation in his testimony.
Ogden didn’t let Nye off the hook completely, insisting that UTIMCO needs to clarify its investment goals in a way that the public can understand them. Nye promised to respond in writing.
And Nye came out swinging a bit when asked about Ogden’s legislative proposal to bring UTIMCO under the supervision of a ramped-up pension and investment board. “It’s a trip that’s not necessary for us,” Nye said.
Nye extended a bit of an olive branch as well, noting that negotiations were under way with Zimmerman to modify his compensation package.
Zimmerman still gets to keep the $1 million bonus he received. Nye said one possibility is that Zimmerman might have to invest a portion of future bonuses in holdings that mimic the Permanent University Fund, one of the main funds managed by UTIMCO. The thinking is such a mechanism would provide a direct link between Zimmerman’s personal returns and those of UTIMCO, presumably increasing the incentive to manage the endowment well.
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March 27, 2009
Audit criticized A&M System's handling of an earlier grant
The dustup over a $50 million grant to the Texas A&M University System for vaccine and drug-therapy research isn’t the first controversy concerning state grants for life-sciences research at Gov. Rick Perry’s alma matter. Click here to read about a $50 million grant in 2005 for the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine.
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March 25, 2009
Senate grants final approval to changes in top 10 percent law
The Texas Senate granted final approval today to legislation scaling back the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities. The vote was 24-7.
Now the measure goes to the real battleground: the Texas House, where a similar proposal was rejected two years ago.
The Senate’s action today involved no debate, in contrast with Tuesday’s hours-long discussion in the chamber that ended with initial approval.
The proposal was prompted by the situation at the University of Texas, where 81 percent of current freshmen from Texas got in under the 1997 law. That law entitles any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school to enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities.
The law was enacted in an effort to boost minority enrollment, especially at UT, at a time when a federal appeals court and a state attorney general’s opinion effectively banned affirmative action in admissions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that race and ethnicity could be considered, and UT subsequently began doing so.
UT contends that, with more freedom to accept non-top 10 percent graduates, it could boost Hispanic and black enrollment. The legislation would allow UT and other public universities to limit top 10 percent students to 60 percent of entering freshmen from Texas.
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Time ripe for more top-tier universities, education leaders testify
Texas has a rare opportunity now to propel some of its public universities toward top-tier status, several higher education leaders testified at a legislative hearing today.
“This is a defining moment in Texas higher education,” said Diana Natalicio, president of the University of Texas at El Paso. “I think our time is now.”
UT-El Paso is one of seven so-called emerging research universities that hope to ascend to a national plane. In Texas, only UT-Austin, Texas A&M University and the private Rice University are considered top-tier, or national, research institutions.
The leaders of the seven universities encouraged lawmakers to pursue legislative proposals to set aside extra funding for which those schools would compete. Research, endowments and other factors would be the benchmarks for the competition.
Texas Tech University President Guy Bailey and other leaders said it’s important to ensure that the funding is ongoing and predictable.
There also seems to be a growing consensus among lawmakers that now, with the Texas economy stronger than the economies of many other states, is an opportune time to provide such funding and gain a competitive advantage on the national higher education landscape.
“If we don’t do it now, we may miss the opportunity of a lifetime for the State of Texas,” said Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the chairwoman of the Higher Education Committee, said her bill and proposals by Duncan and Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, would be left pending so that work could continue in an effort to achieve a consensus on funding and other details.
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March 24, 2009
Senate approves modifications to top 10 percent law
A proposal to scale back the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities was tentatively approved today by the Texas Senate after several hours of debate.
The vote was 22-8. Senators are expected to take final action on the measure Wednesday.
The proposal, authored by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, would modify the 1997 law allowing any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school to enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities.
The University of Texas increasingly has been the school of choice, and school officials want limits placed on the law to give them more discretion in admissions.
Shapiro’s measure, as amended on the Senate floor, is nearly identical to one that senators approved two years ago. That measure was rejected by the House.
“A university needs ability to consider criteria other than just class rank,” Shapiro said.
The bill would allow UT - and any other public university - to limit top 10 percent admissions to 60 percent of entering freshmen from Texas. The first 50 percent would be filled out by accepting the top 1 percent, 2 percent and so forth. The additional 10 percent would be chosen from the pool of remaining top 10 percent students. A university would be free to choose from top 10 percent and non-top 10 percent students for the final 40 percent.
The proposal was amended by senators to include a scholarship provision that, subject to appropriations, would allow some top 10 percent students with financial need to receive grants of up to the full cost of tuition to attend any of the state’s public universities.
Another amendment would “sunset” the limitations on the top 10 percent law after eight years - meaning that they would expire then unless the Legislature extends them.
The measure’s prospects are uncertain in the House, which rejected the plan two years ago after approving similar measures in two previous legislative sessions.
Some minority House members and leaders of civil rights and minority organizations have vowed to fight any weakening of the top 10 percent law. The law was enacted as a race-neutral mechanism to increase minority enrollment, especially at UT, and it has become a touchstone of opportunity for many supporters even though enrollment of blacks and Hispanics has not increased dramatically since its passage.
UT officials say limits are needed because 81 percent of the current crop of freshmen from Texas enrolled under the top 10 percent law. School officials say this leaves too little discretion to admit students with musical, artistic, leadership and other skills who don’t happen to rank so high.
No other public university enrolls such a large contingent of top 10 percent students or has called for limits on the law.
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Senate expected to debate university-admission law
The Texas Senate is expected to consider a proposal to scale back the state’s automatic-admission law for public universities today. To read a Q&A about the issue, click here.
The proposal, authored by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, would modify the 1997 law that allows any student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school to enroll at any of the state’s 35 public universities. The University of Texas increasingly has been the school of choice, and school officials want limits placed on the law.
Shapiro’s bill would allow a university to limit top 10 percent students to half of the entering freshmen from Texas. Based on how this issue was handled two years ago, it’s likely that fellow senators will offer amendments to tweak the plan.
One possible amendment would “sunset” the limits, meaning that after a specified period of time they would go away — unless the Legislature acts to continue the limits. Such an amendment would be intended to put pressure on UT to fulfill its pledge to increase minority enrollment, the purpose of the 1997 law.
Jennifer Ransom Rice, a spokewoman for Shapiro, said the senator would be agreeable to such an amendment.
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March 12, 2009
Lifting a university to top tier requires time, money, political will
Here’s a short analysis of legislative efforts to create a pathway for one or more public universities to join the big leagues.
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March 11, 2009
Minority lawmakers skeptical of proposal to scale back automatic admissions
A proposal to scale back the state’s top 10 percent college-admission law got a skeptical reception from black and Hispanic legislators at a House Higher Education Committee hearing today.
The law requires the state’s 35 public universities to accept any applicant who graduated in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school. It was enacted in 1997 as a race-neutral method to ensure diversity, especially at the University of Texas. Some high schools have high proportions of minority students.
The proposal, authored by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, would allow universities to limit the number of students enrolled under the law to 40 percent of their students from Texas.
Several minority lawmakers, including some who are not members of the committee, grilled UT President William Powers Jr., who is seeking modifications of the law because of a growing influx of top 10 percent students.
Eighty-one percent of UT’s current freshmen from Texas got in under the law, and that figure is projected to rise to 86 percent in the fall. Powers testified that this leaves too little room for students with leadership, artistic, musical and other abilities who don’t rank that high. He said capping admissions under the law at about half of UT’s freshmen from Texas would allow the university to recruit more blacks and Hispanics.
That didn’t satisfy the minority lawmakers, who expressed concern that small gains in minority enrollment since the law was passed might be lost.
“I believe in your commitment, but I just think we need a little bit more and something of a hammer” to ensure increased diversity, said Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas. Giddings, who is black, said she was dismayed that the committee has no black members.
Rep. Roberto Alonzo, D-Dallas, a member of the panel who is Hispanic, complained that the measure would scale back the law even more than a version that the House rejected two years ago. “This is going backwards instead of forward,” he said.
But Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, told Branch that he supports the bill. “I think you’ve found the right balance,” he said.
Similar legislation was approved last week by the Senate Higher Education Committee.
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March 4, 2009
Senate panel scales back college-admission law
The state’s top 10 percent college-admission law would be scaled back considerably under legislation approved today by the Senate Higher Education Committee. The measure now goes to the full Senate.
The panel voted 4-1 to approve Senate Bill 175, which would allow public universities to limit the number of students accepted under a law that currently guarantees a student graduating in the top 10 percent of a Texas high school admission to any such university in the state.
The University of Texas is increasingly the school of choice. UT President William Powers Jr. testified that 81 percent of the current freshmen from Texas got in under the law. He and UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa warned that it wouldn’t be long before all entering freshmen would be top 10 percent admits.
“By 2015, you need not apply if you’re not in the top 10 percent,” Cigarroa said.
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, the author of the bill, said it simply isn’t fair to decide admission on the basis of a single factor. Her measure would allow a university to reserve as few as half of its slots for Texas students for those ranking in the top 10 percent.
Under her plan, UT would admit students ranking in the top 1 percent, the top 2 percent and so forth until half of the slots were filled. The remaining slots would be filled through what she called a “holistic” approach by school admissions officials, taking into account leadership, special talents, race and other factors.
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February 23, 2009
Former UT president favors Houston, Dallas areas for next top-tier schools
Efforts to raise more public universities in Texas to a nationally competitive status should focus on Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a former president of the University of Texas testified today.
Larry Faulkner, who stepped down in 2006 to become president of the Houston Endowment, warned members of the House Appropriations subcommittee on education that it could take 25 years or so for a university to rise to what some people call tier one, top tier or flagship status.
“You don’t get to just declare one,” Faulkner said.
UT and Texas A&M University are the only public top tier schools in the state. Rice University, which is private, is also in that league.
Faulkner said the University of Houston would be a likely candidate for the top rungs, along with a school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He didn’t say whether he favored UT-Dallas or UT-Arlington.
He didn’t rule out Texas Tech University as a candidate but suggested that its location, in Lubbock, could be a hindrance. It helps a lot to be in or near a major city with good airport connections, he said.
Several measures have been proposed this session to put one or more universities on a track with more funding to rise in the rankings. Some of the proposals call for rewarding schools that make the most progress in elevating their research and educational programs.
Faulkner said it could be difficult to ensure that the targeted schools receive sufficient funding for the many years it would take because of conflicting regional interests among lawmakers.
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February 19, 2009
Hochberg keeps it light at hearing on college funding
I’ll say this much for state Rep. Scott Hochberg: He knows how to keep a legislative hearing lively.
Hochberg, D-Houston, is the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on education, and he managed to work in references to “dream team” and “swimsuit competition” during a session this morning about the minute details of higher education funding.
“We’ve got the dream team here,” he said of the panel. “We’ve got the top members right here in this subcommittee.”
He likened the traditional parade of university presidents pleading for money to a swimsuit competition and said he would not run the panel’s hearings that way. Instead, he said, presidents will probably be called up in small groups to discuss matters.
At one point, when a Legislative Budget Board staff member apologized if her explanation of a funding matter was confusing, Hochberg replied, “We are confused on our own. You’re not responsible for that.”
Still, he managed to zero in on some fundamentals. Case in point: Although the state budget spells out how much money each campus gets for various purposes, including so-called special items, it all goes into one pot per campus and the campus gets to decide how to spend the money. The exceptions are money for health care and retirement programs.
I asked Hochberg during a break in the hearing whether he thinks higher education funding needs to be revised, and he replied, “I’m listening at this point.”
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February 12, 2009
Nye elected UTIMCO chair
Erle Nye, the chairman emeritus of energy giant TXU Corp, today was unanimously elected chairman of the board of UTIMCO, the University of Texas’ outside investment company.
Nye, a former chairman of the Texas A&M System board of regents and the current chairman of UTIMCO’s audit and ethics committee, replaces Robert Rowling, who resigned last week during a tongue-lashing by the Senate Finance Committee over UTIMCO’s decision to paying a $1 million bonus to CEO Bruce Zimmerman last fall.
Nye was selected during a two-minute afternoon meeting via conference call. “I’m flattered and honored … I’ll do my very best,” Nye told the board.
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November 10, 2008
Bill seeks to allow emailing of ballot materials
A bill that would make permanent a pilot program allowing delivery of balloting materials by e-mail — aimed at making it easier for military personnel deployed overseas — was filed today.
The measure by state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a Democrat who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, and state Rep. Frank Corte Jr., who Republican who heads the House Committee on Defense Affairs and State-Federal Relations, would allow the pilot program established two years ago to continue.
Before the program, absentee voting ballots had to be mailed to a physical address. That made reliable delivery of ballots to deployed troops nearly impossible, Van de Putte and Corte said, since combat troops are frequently shifted to new locations.
“Making this process permanent addresses a long-standing issue service members have struggled with for some time: the unreasonable difficulty a deployed servicemember undergoes in simply casting his or her ballot,” Van de Putte said in a statement. “Considering the sacrifices our proud military forces make it is absolutely unconscionable that their ability to vote be compromised in any manner.”
Corte said the measurte would make permanent a voting system that has proven beneficial for military personnel deployed overseas.
“With this program being established as a permanent feature of the Texas voting landscape, democracy and justice have achieved a significant victory, a fact surely not lost on those fighting for it far from home,” Corte said.
Both Van de Putte and Corte represent military base-laden San Antonio.
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September 25, 2007
Democrats prod Perry on community college funding
Three Democratic members of the Texas House offered a suggestion today for restoring $154 million vetoed from community colleges by Gov. Rick Perry: Take the money out of the budgets for the governor’s office and the Legislature.
Perry vetoed the appropriation earlier this year, arguing that the sum was for health insurance that should be covered by the colleges, not by the state.
“If the problem is not resolved soon, the funding shortfall will be forced onto the backs of college employees, students and taxpayers,” said a letter to Perry signed by Reps. Garnet Coleman of Houston, Jim Dunnam of Waco and Pete Gallego of Alpine.
Robert Black, the governor’s spokesman, wasn’t impressed.
“This is very typical of Mr. Dunnam and Mr. Coleman,” Black said. “No real solutions for some very real challenges. The fact is, the governor has a $200 million proposal on the table that will put additional funds into community colleges. The leadership of the House and Senate are looking at it.”
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June 25, 2007
Dewhurst sympathetic to community colleges
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst expressed optimism Monday that some sort of solution could be found to resolve a veto of community college health benefits. But he also indicated that it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
Gov. Rick Perry’s veto of $154 million in community college employee health benefits stunned Austin Community College and other schools. State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, suggested in a letter to Dewhurst that the Legislative Budget Board — jointly chaired by Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick — might intervene. But that doesn’t seem likely because any action it took would require gubernatorial approval.
“I share Senator Lucio’s concerns, and fortunately, the budget signed by Governor Perry provides funding for employees’ benefits through the end of FY 2008,” Dewhurst said in a statement. “This gives us some time to study this problem in-depth and find a solution that works for community college employees and the students and communities they serve — as well as taxpayers.”
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A shaky option for community colleges
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, would like to undo Gov. Rick Perry’s veto of $154 million for community college employee health benefits. That might not be easy.
Overriding the veto is out of the question because the Legislature is not in session. In a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst last week, Lucio suggested convening the Legislative Budget Board to address the shortfall. The budget board is a 10-member panel of lawmakers, with the lieutenant governor and the House speaker serving as joint chairmen.
Specifically, Lucio suggested a procedure known as budget execution, which can be employed when the Legislature is not in session. The procedure does not allow the budget board to override a veto, but it does permit the board to transfer an appropriation from one agency to another or to change the purpose of an appropriation. In theory, that might allow restoration of the community college funding — $4 million in the case of South Texas College in Lucio’s district, and $7.6 million for Austin Community College.
But there’s a catch. By law, according to the budget board’s Web site, the governor’s approval is needed for budget execution sought by the board. And therein lies the rub: Perry isn’t likely to approve something he has already vetoed.
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May 27, 2007
Student loan legislation fails
A proposal to impose tight restrictions on the relationship between student loan companies and college financial aid offices is dead for this session.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, had tacked her student loan bill onto a measure concerning the calculation of grade point averages, but it was stripped away this weekend by House-Senate conferees out of concern that the loan language strayed too far from the main subject of the bill. That could have placed the bill in jeopardy in the House, where many members keep close watch for germaneness, or lack of it.
The loan language, already approved by the Senate, would have barred gifts from lending companies to college financial aid officers, and the officers would have been required to disclose ownership of stock in lenders. Any school with a list of recommended lenders would have had to explain how it chose them.
The proposal was prompted by questionable practices involving lenders and college aid offices in Texas and other states. The director of financial aid at the University of Texas was dismissed earlier this month in connection with his past ownership of stock in a lender’s parent company.
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Agreement reached on top 10 percent law
House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on changes to a 10-year-old college-admission law.
Under Senate Bill 101, which still needs approval today from the full House and Senate, the University of Texas would no longer be required to accept all applicants who rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class. UT could limit such students to 60 percent of its freshmen from Texas. Such students made up 71 percent in fall 2006.
UT is the only school among 35 public colleges and universities that sought relief from the 1997 law. But any school whose capacity is strained in the future could opt to impose the restrictions.
UT President William Powers Jr. has spent considerable time testifying at legislative hearings and meeting with lawmakers this year in hopes of obtaining limits on the law. He’s argued that racial and ethnic diversity — a major purpose of the 1997 legislation — could be realized more effectively if UT has greater discretion in deciding whom to admit.
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May 26, 2007
Budget compromise gives Perry freer hand to veto higher ed projects
Gov. Rick Perry would have a much freer hand in vetoing various higher education construction and research projects under a budget approved by House and Senate negotiators.
The question now is what, if anything, will fall victim to his veto pen.
Perhaps the $23 million earmarked for expanding the medical school operations of Texas A&M University System’s Health Science Center, including $9 million to build and support clinical facilities in Round Rock? Or will $2 million for the University of Texas’ Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas be excised? Or maybe the $5.2 million set aside for “institutional enhancement” at Texas Tech University?
It remains to be seen. But considering that the governor pushed hard for expanded veto power over higher education “special items,” it would seem odd indeed if he didn’t wind up vetoing something on the list.
And it’s a substantial list: all told, three dozen items totaling $123 million. All were added by the House and Senate budget negotiators. An additional $64 million or so in special items included in an earlier version of the budget is in a separate portion of the document and therefore more difficult for the governor to veto.
The governor’s office isn’t talking specifics, but gubernatorial spokesman Robert Black said Perry is pleased that a large portion of special items will be subject to his review. In general, Black has said, “special item” is often a euphemism for pork.
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May 24, 2007
Student loan legislation lives
In a surprise move, the Texas Senate tacked the student loan measure onto another bill Wednesday night. Now the matter goes to the House.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said she was delighted by the turn of events. Prospects for her loan legislation had seemed bleak as the session winds to a close.
Still, it’s not a done deal. Zaffirini added her bill to House Bill 3815 by Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria. Morrison’s bill, which establishes a uniform method for calculating high school grade point averages, was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, who happily received Zaffirini’s amendment.
“We put the whole bill in as an amendment,” Zaffirini said.
The House could go along with the maneuver or send the measure to a conference committee. Either way, time is running short with the session ending Monday.
Zaffirini’s amendment would impose stricter standards on the relationship between loan companies and college financial aid offices. Gifts and revenue sharing would be prohibited, and college financial aid officers could not own stock in lending companies.
The University of Texas, Texas Christian University, Baylor University and Texas Tech University are among schools around the nation whose practices have come under scrutiny.
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May 22, 2007
House expected to debate Top 10 percent bill today
Legislation limiting a 10-year-old law that allows high-ranking students to enroll at the public university of their choice is scheduled for debate today on the floor of the Texas House.
Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, says the prospects for passage are good. But the measure won’t get through without a fight.
Members of the Mexican American legislative caucus in the House oppose any change in the law. Forty-three members of the caucus signed a resolution endorsing the status quo.
The law grants students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class in Texas the right to attend any public university in the state. It was intended to increase diversity, especially at the University of Texas.
Blacks have gone from 3.7 percent of undergraduates at UT in 1997, the year the law was passed, to 4.2 percent in 2006, according to UT records. Hispanics made up 14.2 percent of the student body in 1997 and 17.1 percent in 2006.
In two previous legislative sessions, Morrison has won House approval of similar measures, only to see them die in the Senate. This time, the Senate has already passed the measure, Senate Bill 101, authored by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano.
Shapiro’s measure would allow a university to cap enrollment at 60 percent of its freshmen from Texas. The House version calls for a 50 percent cap. The Senate version also would provide scholarships for top 10 percent students, as well as require universities opting to limit admissions to recruit racial and ethnic minorities.
UT President William Powers Jr., backed by UT System regents, says current law needs to be restricted because there isn’t enough room to admit standout musicians, budding scientists and other worthy students who might not rank in the top 10 percent. UT is increasingly the school of choice under the automatic admission law, with 71 percent of its current freshmen from Texas having gained admission under the provision.
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Time's running out for student loan legislation
A measure that would impose new standards on lending companies and college financial aid offices cleared the Senate Education Committee last week, but there isn’t time to pass it in the Senate, run it through a House committee and bring it up on the House floor. Today is the deadline for Senate bills to be considered by the full House.
Tacking the language onto another bill farther along the legislative assembly line is another option. But the receiving bill must be on a related subject for such a maneuver to pass muster.
“We’re looking,” said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. “Nothing’s immediately apparent.”
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is the author of the loan legislation, Senate Bill 2049. It includes language from proposals by West and Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso. The proposal would tighten rules concerning gifts, stock holdings, financial disclosure and other matters.
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May 4, 2007
Top 10 debate is on in the Senate
A bill limiting to 50 percent of a freshman class the number of students who get in under the top 10 percent rule is now on the Senate floor.
Senators voted unanimously to bring it up. They’ve already voted 18-11 against repealing it entirely. They also defeated an amendment to limit to 4 percent the amount of a freshman class that came from out of state.
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Top 10 vote within minutes?
Word on the Senate floor is that there will be a run this afternoon at voting on changes to the law granting automatic university admissions to students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.
Some of the key players on the issue, including Sens. Florence Shapiro and Royce West, huddled for about an hour during a break in the Senate action.
The Senate returned and started working on other bills, and that’s where we are now.
Stay tuned.
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April 10, 2007
Williams: Tuition hikes "like crack for universities"
State Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, wasn’t in a mood to dance around his point at a legislative hearing this morning on tuition and other higher education matters.
“This is like crack for the universities,” he said. “They just can’t seem to get enough of these tuition increases.”
Williams acknowledged that, as a House member, he voted in 2003 to give public university governing boards the authority to set tuition, a power previously reserved for the Legislature. He has believed for some time that this was a mistake, and he would like the Legislature to withdraw that authority.
Tuition increases have been “unconscionable,” Williams said. “I feel like we got burned. I feel it’s one of the worst public policy decisions we’ve made since I’ve been in the Legislature.”
It’s doubtful whether the decision will be undone this session. Several bills would restrict tuition increases, but they face a formidable obstacle: House Speaker Tom Craddick, an architect of the 2003 law and a strong supporter of the concept of allowing governing boards to tailor tuition to their schools’ needs.
Average tuition and fees per semester for full-time students from Texas at public universities have risen 69 percent, to $5,327, since the 2002-03 school year, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
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April 5, 2007
Perryman: Don't close that Tomorrow Fund yet
In a new report, one of the state’ss best-known economists casts doubt on Comptroller Susan Combs’ assertion in recent months that the Texas Tomorrow Fund should remain closed to new enrollments.
Advisers to Combs said the state’s prepaid college tuition program should remain closed, as it has been since 2003, after studying it earlier this year and reporting that it could run a deficit as high as $3 billion by 2029.
But Waco economist Ray Perryman, in a letter dated Friday to Gov. Rick Perry, argues that there is considerable evidence to support reopening the plan, which allowed parents to lock in current tuition costs years before their children went to college.
The fund’s actuarial ratio of assets to liabilities is comparable to those of the Texas Teacher Retirement System, Texas Employee Retirement System and other similar funds across America,” Perryman says in his letter, obtained Thursday by the American-Statesman. “Permanent closure of the fund suggested by the comptroller’s advisory panel is a major contributing factor in the predictions, as it compels the investment portfolio to become more liquid over time.”
Perryman, who is often hired to conduct economic studies for interest groups, said he was not paid for his analysis. He said several parents from around the state asked him to take a look at it, although he declined to name them.
The panel of financial professionals that Combs asked to study the fund reported in Frebruary that it could be between $1.74 billion and $3.31 billion short of meeting is obligations by 2029. The advisers said tuition was increasing faster than expected, and that students often take longer than expected to graduate, subjecting the plan to greater tuition increases the longer they stay, among other problems in its design.
Lawmakers in 2003 gave university regents the authority to set tuition rates, causing larger increases than anticipated by the tuition plan, which was created in 1996.
Perryman’s report says the report that Combs called for lacked context. It points out that tuition increases have leveled off some, and that the stock market has improved considerably since the early part of the decade.
“Given that the market situation has improved, the tuition situation is improving and a lot of other plans around the country that had similar problems are turning around now, it just seems like it’s something that takes a good, hard, careful look before we make what would be a pretty radical decision to never open it up again,” he said Thursday.
Combs has not said it should be permanently closed.
Robert Wood, director of the division in Combs’ office that includes the Tomorrow Fund, said he had not read Perryman’s report but welcomed it as a chance to create more discussion about the plan’s future.
He noted that even the report from the Combs panel projected several possible outcomes.
“When you’re trying to project something 23 years out, there’s no question that people come up with different answers to the same question,” Wood said.
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March 1, 2007
Higher ed center proposed for Williamson Co.
A higher education center would be established in eastern Williamson County under legislation proposed by Rep. Mike Krusee.
The Williamson County Republican wants the campus to be an offshoot of Texas A&M University-Central Texas in Killeen, in much the same way that the Round Rock Higher Education Center is an arm of Texas State University-San Marcos.
A&M-Central Texas is a fledgling institution authorized by lawmakers under an exception to the state’s usual minimum enrollment requirements for new stand-alone campuses. The Williamson County unit would have a mouthful of a title: Texas A&M University-Central Texas East Williamson County Higher Education Center. The center would also be affiliated with Temple Junior College, which is based in Temple but has a center in Taylor.
Krusee said his proposal is intended to expand higher education options and related economic development in a largely rural section of the county. He also said it would further the goals of the state’s higher education plan, known as Closing the Gaps by 2015. The plan seeks to boost enrollment and graduation rates, especially among low-income, black and Hispanic students.
“Access to higher education opportunities is critical for both young people and for our current workforce,” Krusee said in a statement. “By creating these higher education options, we can ensure a prosperous future for coming generations.”
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