Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

AUSTIN - More than 62,000 college students who are considered a priority for financial help in the wake of tuition deregulation aren't getting it, the state auditor reported Wednesday. The finding underscores concerns raised two years ago by lawmakers who worried that deregulated tuitions might unfairly burden middle-class students who don't qualify for other forms of financial aid.
The auditor's report determined that tuition increases, ranging from 33 percent to 54 percent during the 2004-05 budget years, appear reasonable at four of Texas' five largest universities. The University of North Texas was not audited.
Tuition at the University of Houston rose 40 percent, more than at Texas A&M University (33 percent) and Texas Tech University (34 percent) but less than the University of Texas (54 percent).
Only Texas Tech University performed a calculation required by law to identify students to whom priority must be given for financial aide, the audit said. In the statewide survey of four-year universities that raised tuition more than $46 per semester credit hour, no other institution made the required calculation.
State education law gives priority to students with unmet needs in paying higher tuition and fees, those getting no financial assistance beyond loans.
An analysis covering spring and fall of 2004 and spring of 2005 found 62,196 students considered a priority for help did not receive it.
However, $11.4 million of $43 million from tuition funds set aside for financial aid was awarded to 18,244 students even though they were not those declared a priority.
Universities responded to the audit, saying it is impossible to precisely identify the priority students until all other financial aid has been awarded. Students made to wait would suffer a hardship, they argued.
The auditor also found that universities have identified surplus funds that could hold down tuition increases short-term but not necessarily long-term.
The audit recommended that the Legislature tighten state law governing university accountability and financial aid requirements as tuitions increase.
The University of Houston responded that the universities and Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn could devise a more accountable system without further legislation.
polly.hughes@chron.com