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Recap: Texas Commission on Community College Finance

September 13, 2022
The Texas Commission on Community College Finance met on Monday, September 12. Chairman Woody Hunt welcomed the committee and invited Commissioner Harrison Keller of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to present the findings from a THECB poll conducted to understand how Texans perceive community colleges. Most of the September 12 meeting was spent discussing the Commission’s recently released draft policy recommendations.

The Commission presented on their draft recommendations along with presentations from THECB and Jobs For the Future (JFF) to help inform their recommendations (the slides presented are below): Listen here to Senator Larry Taylor reflect on how investments in community colleges are valuable to ensuring under-represented students have opportunities to enter into a thriving economy and the ties between investments in education to ongoing success for Texas businesses.

Following reflections from members of the Commission, various stakeholders provided public comment. Those stakeholders consisted of representatives from Texas 2036, Dallas Regional Chamber, Commit Partnership, Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM), Texas Community College Student Advisory Council, Austin Community College Districts, Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC), Paris Junior College, Alamo Community College, and Educate Texas.

Generally, the feedback about the recommendations showed support for the work that the Commission was able to accomplish. Most public comment indicated a request for clarity of how current recommendations will be implemented, specifically as it relates to dual credit funding and shared service agreements. Chairman Hunt indicated there may be revisions to the final recommendations following this meeting ahead of releasing a final report for Commission approval in mid-October.

Here are the next steps for the Commission this fall:
  • October 18 (likely virtual) – presentation and approval of final report
  • November 1 — delivery of report to Governor, Lt. Governor, and Legislature
The full meeting is available to watch here. The full language of the draft recommendations is available here.
 
 

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