Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

President William Powers

No issue is more important to the future of Texas than education — both our public schools and higher education. If we invest in education, our state's future is bright. If we don't, it isn't. Neglecting education will relegate Texas to a secondary role in our nation and the world.

Support for higher education is an investment and one with an amazing rate of return for our state. I'd like to share with you five facts about the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M.

1. Research universities generate a very high return on investment.

Sometimes research universities are viewed as resource consumers rather than resource generators. Texas taxpayers will spend $546 million this year in state funds on UT and A&M. But these two universities generate more than $10 billion in economic activity. That means that a state dollar spent at UT or A&M returns more than $18 annually to the Texas economy. It's hard to imagine a more efficient program of economic development. Moreover, UT and A&M attract more than $1 billion each year in research grants alone.

2. We do more with less.

While state general revenue provided 44 percent of UT's budget 22 years ago, today it receives only 16 percent of its budget from Texas taxpayers. Meanwhile, in the latest U.S. News & World Report magazine rankings, UT is ranked 23rd in peer assessment of academic quality out of 248 schools in the "national university" category (including the private schools such as Harvard and Yale). Among the 162 public universities in that category, UT is ranked 7th in peer assessment, which puts us in the company of the nation's best, such as the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan, and the University of Virginia. But we are ranked 104th in financial resources. We spend 38 percent less per student than the University of Illinois and Berkeley. Clearly, we do more with less. But we cannot reach our potential when we are that far behind in financial resources. The same is true at A&M.

3. Tuition at UT and A&M is a bargain.

In 2003, the Legislature gave the boards of regents of public universities authority over tuition. In response to a shortfall in 2003 caused by a 7 percent cut in university budgets and a trend of declining state support, UT raised tuition by 13.2 percent in spring 2004 and by 13.7 percent the next fall to catch up. Since then, tuition increases have averaged 5 percent per year. Even after the increases, the cost of tuition and fees for a year is still only $7,630. That is less than the median of the 12 public universities we use as a comparison group. And compare it with about $33,000 per year at a prestigious private university. A similar story is true at A&M. UT and A&M are still great bargains.

4. No one will be denied a UT education because of cost.

We have ensured that low- and middle-income Texas families will not be priced out of a UT education. Students from families at or below the Texas median income of $40,000 have had zero increase in tuition since 2004. Students from families with incomes of $80,000 have seen half of the tuition increases covered by additional financial aid. The simple fact is that UT is still accessible. So is A&M.

5. One size does not fit all.

This brings me to a final point about higher education in Texas. We must support our entire system of higher education, including our four-year institutions and our community colleges. But they play different roles. Some are growing; some are not. Some focus primarily on teaching; others also focus on research. Some largely serve part-time students while others focus on full-time students. Texas needs a diverse group of colleges that offers families choices. One size does not fit all. No single funding model will fit the different needs of all these institutions.

In Texas higher education, state allocations are made through a formula that rewards enrollment growth. But UT and A&M are no longer greatly expanding the size of their student bodies. UT has almost 50,000 students.

We must find a way to fund outstanding research universities that will keep them competitive. That is the question Texans face.

Do we want to cede to other states the economic benefits of top research universities?

Do we want to tell our best and brightest students they have to go to California or Michigan to get that kind of education?

I am grateful to our leaders in state government for making higher education — and these issues — a priority in the 80th Legislature.

Over the next decade, Texas is poised to lead America culturally, politically, and economically. This should be our era, our time. But we will not succeed unless we invest in education: in K-12 education, in higher education generally, and in our two great public research universities.