State Appropriations

For the 2012–2013 biennium, beginning Sept. 1, 2011, and ending Aug. 31, 2013, total funding for higher education is $21.8 billion in all funds, a decrease of $969.1 million, or 4.3 percent, over the 2010–2011 appropriation of $22.7 billion.

Higher education for 2012–2013 will be 12.6 percent of the total state budget, compared with 12.5 percent of the state budget for 2010–2011.

The 2010-2011 base used in the calculations above includes the 5 percent budget reduction that agencies were required to take during the biennium, but not the further 2.5 percent reduction some agencies were required to make to their fiscal year 2011 budgets.

Enrollment

Enrollment in Texas public and independent, or private, colleges and universities in fall 2011 totaled 1,469,517 students. 

Enrollment in the 38 public universities increased by 11,388 students to 568,938 students. 

The state’s public community college districts and Lamar State Colleges, which offer two-year degree programs, reported fall 2011 enrollments totaling 740,633 students, an increase from 730,288 in fall 2010.

The public Texas State Technical College System, which also offers two-year degree programs, reported fall 2011 enrollments totaling 12,353 students, a decrease from 13,024 in fall 2010.

Enrollments for fall 2011 at the state’s 37 independent or private senior colleges and universities increased to 123,690 students, up from 119,954 students from fall 2010.

The state’s two independent junior colleges reported 1,066 students in fall 2011, an decrease from 1,466 students in the fall 2010.

Public medical, dental, nursing, and allied health institutions of higher education reported enrollments totaling 21,313 students in fall 2011, up from 20,245 in the fall 2010.

Actions of the 82nd Legislature, 2011

The 82nd Texas Legislature approved critical legislation that will change the way higher education does business. Innovative legislative strategies to improve student outcomes and increase institutional productivity were approved including:

SB 28, known as the Texas Grant Priority Model or the Texas Grant College Readiness Reform Act, will improve the state’s return on investment by prioritizing awards to financially needy high school students whose academic efforts make them well-prepared to complete a college degree. (This legislation will go into effect in fall 2013.)

HB 9 moves Texas a step closer to implementing outcomes-based funding for two-year and four-year institutions of higher education by requiring the Higher Education Coordinating Board to recommend to the Legislature student success-based funding formulas that are aligned with the state’s education goals and economic development needs.

HB 1000 provides a methodology for the distribution of funds from the National Research University Fund (NRUF) to emerging research universities.

HB 3025 implements cost efficiency recommendations designed to help facilitate timely degree completion by requiring students to file a degree plan not later than earning 45 semester credit hours and requiring institutions to send transcripts of eligible transfer students back to the lower division institution for the awarding of an Associate’s degree, called “reverse transfer.”

SB 851 will send students a clear and uniform message regarding financial aid processes and implement a statewide deadline for financial aid. The provisions of the legislation apply beginning with financial assistance awarded for the 2013–2014 academic year.

The passage of HB 1244 will help the Coordinating Board implement changes to reform a developmental education system that is failing students. This legislation requires the Board to prescribe standards for each Texas Success Initiative assessment instrument to measure student readiness and align the delivery of developmental education. In addition, HB 1244 requires institutions to provide a range of coursework options, including online and non-course based remediation to get students on a faster track toward degree attainment. 

SB 1799 and SJR 50 help expand access during these challenging budgetary times by increasing the Coordinating Board’s College Access Loans bonding capacity to meet expected loan demand. These loans are competitive and offer the lowest rates in the country, which are 5.25% for fall 2011. This legislation and constitutional amendment, upon approval of voters, will provide students additional options for paying for college.

Actions of the 81st Legislature, 2009

HB 51 was a major piece of legislation intended to raise the excellence of public universities and develop, fund and maintain major research universities in Texas.

The University of Texas at Austin. Photo by Robert Plocheck.

SB 175 authorized The University of Texas at Austin to place a cap on the number of students admitted under the Top Ten Percent Law. Beginning with the 2011–2012 academic year, UT-Austin is not required to offer admission to applicants qualifying under the Top Ten Percent Law in excess of the number needed to fill 75 percent of enrollment capacity for first-time resident undergraduate students.

HB 3 established two performance standards for high school end-of-course examinations: a standard performance and, for Algebra II and English III, a college readiness performance standard.

SB 956 authorized the board of the University of North Texas System to establish and operate a school of law in Dallas as a professional school of the system.

SB 98 established The University of Texas Health Science Center-South Texas, which includes The University of Texas Medical School-South Texas. The UT System was directed to convert the current Lower Rio Grande Valley Regional Academic Health Center to The University of Texas Health Science Center-South Texas as a component institution of the system.

SB 629 removed statutory barriers to the establishment of three new universities that had been operating as system centers: Texas A&M-San Antonio, Texas A&M-Central Texas and University of North Texas at Dallas.