Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

AUSTIN – Texas needs to make good again on its pledge to help low-income students pay for college, a group of campus financial aid directors and other experts said Thursday.

They called for the Legislature to put enough money into the TEXAS Grant program – the state's largest source of need-based college aid – so that every eligible student receives an award.

"Fully fund it so students know they can depend on it," said Carolyn Cunningham, financial aid director at the University of North Texas.

Last year, the Legislature ordered a study of state financial aid programs, largely to see if they could be run more efficiently. The group that met Thursday – which also includes high school counselors and representatives from the governor's office and Legislature – is advising.

Several group members said that retooling state programs won't work unless more money is pumped into them.

They praised TEXAS Grants, which provide $5,170 a year to needy students who take a college-prep curriculum in high school. But they lamented that since 2004, the state hasn't spent enough money to cover all eligible students. Some campuses report that less than half of students who qualify for the grant actually get it.

"The carrot attached to the program worked beyond its expectations, and the demand far outstripped the willingness of the Legislature to fully fund the program," said George Torres, a senior adviser at Texas Guaranteed, the state agency that guarantees federal student loans.

Some lawmakers note that they have invested more in financial aid, to the tune of an extra $182 million for the current two-year budget cycle – a 24 percent increase.

But even with that financial infusion, tens of thousands of qualified students still won't get TEXAS Grants.

Several group members said Texas has too many aid programs competing for too few dollars. That's hard on families planning for college, because they don't know what aid will be available.

"Which one should you fund? Which one should be increased? Those things don't necessarily lend themselves to predictability," said Joe Pettibon, financial aid director at Texas A&M University.

While the campus officials in the room stressed that students need more financial help, many lawmakers and other state officials have other priorities, according to consultants working on the study. For example, lawmakers want a good return on their education investment in the form of timely graduations, and more of them.

"They all want the money to be used properly and correctly," said Larry Matejka of Higher Education Insight Associates, the consulting firm. He said both campus officials and lawmakers agree that college needs to be more affordable.

A final study will be presented to the governor and Legislature in July, to guide them in the 2009 legislative session.