Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The Toward Excellence, Access, & Success (TEXAS) Grant Program was created in 1999 by the Texas Legislature to provide aid to financially needy students, and is the largest state funded, need-based grant program in Texas, followed by the Tuition Equalization Grant for independent colleges and universities.

In the 2004-2005 biennium, $324 million in general revenue was appropriated to the TEXAS Grant Program, while $331.7 million was appropriated for the 2005- 2006 biennium. The number of students served was 64,039 in 2004 and 60,156 in 2005.

While TEXAS Grant funding continues to increase, the number of students who receive aid is insufficient. Because priority is given to students who already receive the grant, new students unable to receive the award due to lack of funding must rely on Federal Pell Grants and federal loan programs such as the Stafford and Perkins loans. The Pell Grant Program had a maximum award of $4,050 in 2005, depending on expected family contribution and cost of attendance, which does not meet most Border families' needs.

In 2003-04, the average Pell Grant was $2,473 and the average TEXAS Grant was $2,446. Pell Grants cannot replace entirely a TEXAS Grant because general assistance is usually during initial years of enrollment for the Pell Grant, whereas the TEXAS Grant can be maintained for up to six years. Moreover, grants tend to have a stronger influence on college enrollment than loans or work-study, particularly for low income, African-American, and Hispanic students. Failure to fund TEXAS Grants at higher levels adversely affects low-income and minority enrollment s, which is necessary to meet Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's plan for Closing the Gaps by 2015.

The TEXAS Grant is of particular importance to the Texas Borderland universities, as these institutions educate some of Texas' neediest students on the Texas-Mexico Border.

In 2006, an estimated 34,606 students who qualify for the TEXAS Grant will not receive an award due to lack of state funding. State lawmakers expect that an estimated 36,712 students who qualify will not receive awards in the upcoming year. According to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the $324 million for TEXAS Grants in the 2004-2005 biennium, only funds 62 percent of the cost to fund all eligible students.

Thus, 82,153 students who were eligible did not receive an award.

In 2004 and 2005, approximately 479 students who qualified for a TEXAS Grant at the University of Texas-El Paso did not receive one since state funding was depleted. Fewer grants and a tuition increase of 28 percent have placed an enormous strain on students attending the University of Texas at El Paso. Only 15 percent of the 14,384 undergraduates attending the University of Texas-El Paso received any form of state financial aid. Most of the financial aid awarded in the 2003-2004 school year was federal scholarships and loans, and even these did not fully cover the cost of tuition.

Students in Texas already receive a smaller percentage of grant aid than students in the nation as a whole. In 2003-2004, 33 percent of aid in Texas came from grants while 66 percent came from loans. Comparatively, the nationwide average is 42 percent grants and 57 percent loans. In 2002-2003, Texas appropriated $248 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student, placing Texas last among the six largest states for state grants. The state of California spends twice as much as Texas and New York offers 1.3 times more state grant aid than Texas.

To address this challenge, Senator Shapleigh is presenting the Texas College Success Act of 2007. The bill will include:

• Implementing a three-year moratorium on tuition and fee increases,

• Creating a five percent cap on any increase after the three-year period,

• Increasing funding for TEXAS Grants to fully serve the over 66,000 eligible students who will not be served this biennium due to a lack of state funding,

• Increasing student accessibility to work-study programs on campus,

• Requiring public universities to develop a uniform, online degree and finance plan allowing students to create a road map to graduation.

"With this bill we rein in tuition hikes, fund TEXAS Grants, and move students to a college degree in four years. College education must be within reach for all Texas families," said Senator Shapleigh.