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Thursday, January 4, 2001

Texas' New Governor Seeks to Give Bulk of Aid Directly to Students By PETER SCHMIDT Texas' new governor, Rick Perry, on Wednesday proposed overhauling his state's system of financing higher education by replacing most direct state appropriations for public colleges with grants to students, who could use the money at the public college of their choice. The system outlined by Mr. Perry, a Republican who took over from George W. Bush, would eliminate most direct state appropriations for public colleges, and instead channel the money through students in the form of a state commitment to cover their tuitions, fees, and book costs at whatever public college they choose to attend. Such a change, Governor Perry said, "puts students and parents first," and places them, rather than higher-education institutions, at the center of the process of determining how and where the state's higher-education dollars are spent. "It doesn't mean we would entirely eliminate direct funding for research and construction, but it does mean more young, fertile minds are empowered to pursue their dreams regardless of family income, the color of their skin, or the sound of their last name," Mr. Perry said in a written statement. The idea was one of several proposed changes in Texas higher-education policy contained in a report unveiled by Mr. Perry at a news conference in Austin. The report was the work of a 15-member commission on the future of higher education in Texas that Mr. Perry established, as lieutenant governor, in September 1999. He made it clear Wednesday that he endorsed the panel's recommendations and was determined to use them to bring about major improvement in higher education in his state. "These wide-ranging proposals are aimed at making a good system better," Mr. Perry said. The commission's recommendations stem largely from its conclusion that the college-going rate among Texans, and, especially, the state's black and Hispanic residents, is unacceptably low. Echoing a report issued by the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board in October, the commission's report calls on Texas to increase enrollment in its higher-education system by 500,000 students, or about 50 percent, by 2015. It says doing so will require "a strong commitment of resources" and "changes to our current system that provide assurances of improved responsiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability." In the short term, the commission's report recommends that the state lawmakers agree, in the coming months, to double spending on the merit-based Texas Grant program. Established in 1999, the program currently serves about 11,000 students -- or about a fourth of those eligible -- and it provides scholarships only to students at four-year institutions. The commission's report calls on lawmakers to establish a separate, merit-based scholarship program for students at community and technical colleges. Among its other recommendations for the state Legislature's upcoming session, the report asks lawmakers to establish a program that would enable the state to enter "compacts" with public colleges, through which the higher-education institutions would be freed of some bureaucratic oversight in exchange for meeting certain standards in terms of academic or financial performance. The commission's report provides few details of its proposed overhaul of the state's higher-education financing system. It predicts that the new system will not be put in place before 2003, especially given the controversy likely to surround such a significant change. But it calls for the debate to begin right away. Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, a member of the commission, had voiced reservations about the proposed financing-system overhaul. He said he signed off on the recommendation, however, because the report does not present it "as the solution, but as an idea that needs some work." "All of these ideas will be vetted by the Legislature," observed Alfred F. Hurley, the chancellor of the University of North Texas system. Nonetheless, he welcomed Mr. Perry's higher-education plan -- his first major policy pronouncement as governor -- as a signal that Mr. Perry "is going to focus public attention on the needs of higher education." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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