Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Sen. Rodney Ellis

State Sen. Rodney Ellis is disappointed.

The Democrat from Houston was one of the architects in 1999 of the Texas Grant program, which helps students from low-income families pay tuition and fees at public colleges and universities.

State funding, however, hasn't kept pace with demand. The 52,089 students projected to receive Texas Grant aid this year constitute 57 percent of those eligible.

Ellis, the most ardent proponent of the program in the Legislature, cites research showing that grants, which do not have to be repaid, are more effective than loans in attracting students to college.

"The way you get more students into college is not by telling them to saddle themselves with debt," Ellis said. "If there's nothing else they learn coming out of high school, it's that they don't want to saddle themselves with college loans."

The average Texas Grant is $2,375 per semester for college and university students and $735 for community college students. Schools award the grants to the neediest students first, until the money runs out.

A measure approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee would allocate $454 million during the next two years, covering 53 percent of eligible students. The Senate's working version of the budget would provide $399 million, enough for 46 percent of those eligible.

It would cost $897 million to fund all of the roughly 181,000 students expected to be eligible.

The current two-year budget for the Texas Grant program is about $334 million, out of $66 billion in general revenue appropriations.

Gov. Rick Perry wants to rewrite the state's aid programs to boost funding 60 percent overall while sharply increasing the proportion of loans and reducing the proportion of grants. His proposal, which doesn't seem to have much traction, also would allow students to avoid repayment if they graduate on time and maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0.

Ellis said the proposals fall short of what is needed to help low-income students — many of them blacks and Hispanics — whose college enrollment and graduation rates are lagging.

Studies show that low-income students often struggle academically, in part because many of them work long hours to earn money while attending classes.

Ellis said he doesn't think higher education leaders have done enough to defend the Texas Grant program.

"Have you seen a single press conference or op-ed from regents or chancellors? Not a peep," he said. "They have not been on the front lines speaking up for students, their clients, about protecting the most successful student financial aid program in Texas. They're using their political capital to ask for more research money and more buildings."

Mark Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas System, said he would like to see the Texas Grant program fully funded and has expressed support for the program to lawmakers, including Ellis. Yudof said he has largely stayed out of the debate on the proper mix of grants and loans.

"At least in my case, I don't write many op-ed pieces and don't hold many press conferences," Yudof said.

Mike McKinney, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, also said he likes the Texas Grant program.

"It enables people to attend school who frankly wouldn't attend because of fear of debt," he said. "I wish they would expand it."

A variety of organizations and studies have concluded that more grant aid is needed for Texas to reach parity with other large states in higher education enrollment and graduation rates, especially for economically disadvantaged students, who make up an ever-larger share of the college-age population.

The Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp., a nonprofit created by the Legislature, recommended full funding of the Texas Grant program in a recent report. The Governor's Business Council, a private group of state business leaders that has advised both Democratic and Republican governors, has also called for more grant aid, as has the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Ellis has authored a measure, Senate Bill 1176, that would require public colleges and universities to award Texas Grant aid to each eligible student. Any school that failed to do so could not spend its state appropriations for instruction and operations, a penalty that would virtually shut down a school.

State Sens. Kirk Watson of Austin, Eddie Lucio of Brownsville and Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso, all Democrats, have signed on as co-authors.

Ellis said the need for more grant aid is all the more urgent in light of tuition increases since 2003, when the Legislature ceded tuition-setting authority to university governing boards. Average tuition and fees per semester for full-time students at public universities in Texas have gone up 69 percent since the 2002-03 school year, according to the coordinating board.

"We need to take a deep breath and have a reality check," Ellis said. "People want to talk about closing the gaps, but in reality, they don't want to put the programs in place to do it."

rhaurwitz@statesman.com; 445-3604

Who is eligible

To qualify for a Texas Grant, a student must:

•Show financial need.

•Complete the recommended or distinguished program in a Texas high school.

•Generally maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale and meet academic progress requirements, once enrolled.