Texas House passes bill to help seven universities reach Tier 1 status
April 26, 2009
A bill to help more Texas universities gain national research prominence easily passed the House on Friday. But the funding for the competitive grant program – estimated at $500 million over the next two years – still must be added to the budget, a tough hurdle with the state in a tight financial situation.
Written by Emily Ramshaw, The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – A bill to help more Texas universities gain national research prominence easily passed the House on Friday. But the funding for the competitive grant program – estimated at $500 million over the next two years – still must be added to the budget, a tough hurdle with the state in a tight financial situation.
Rep. Dan Branch's bill is an effort to help more Texas colleges reach "Tier 1" research status. Today, Texas has just three flagship universities: the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Rice University, which is private.
"This is a chance for us to seize the moment," said Branch, R-Dallas. Texas is "running a lot of its best and brightest students out of the state. ... We need more national research universities."
The measure, approved unanimously, would create three funding pools to provide grant dollars for Texas' seven "emerging research universities," which include the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Texas at Dallas.
The three funds – the Research University Development Fund, the Texas Research Incentive Program and the National Research University Benchmark Fund – would provide competitive grants and matching dollars to the schools, giving extra rewards to those that make special efforts to elevate their research programs.
Supporters say Texas needs more top-level universities to stay economically and educationally competitive; already, the state loses more than 10,000 high school graduates annually to high-performing universities in other states. And they say the more flagship universities Texas has, the more skilled the state's workforce will become, particularly in economy-driving fields like science and engineering.
Earlier this session, some lawmakers questioned whether, in a tough budget year, Texas should focus on assisting just those schools closest to reaching Tier 1 status. Branch attributed the lack of opposition to the bill in the House Friday to lawmakers and university administrators having worked out their differences.
Branch said that with all parties on board, he doesn't expect much trouble in the Senate – the bill's next stop. And he said he hopes budget writers include "a dramatic amount" of money for the research grant funds in conference committee.
A Senate committee has approved a measure to cap college tuition increases at 5 percent a year.
The Senate Higher Education Committee, adopting the legislation on a 4-0 vote Friday, rejected a more sweeping tuition freeze that many lawmakers support. The bill applies only to institutions above the state median.
The legislation, which take effect in the 2010-11 academic year, awaits a hearing in the full Senate.
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