LAREDO - A border university president says he fears Texas will soon have to admit that Closing the Gaps, the state's initiative to get more minority students through college, was an impossible dream.

Texas A&M International University President Ray Keck III said he was saddened but not surprised by the latest preliminary enrollment numbers, which show that for fall 2005 Hispanic student enrollment in South Texas dropped by 255.

Keck and other university presidents and chancellors from around the state met with Higher Education Commissioner Raymund A. Paredes in Austin on Wednesday to review the figures. Paredes said they were very disappointing.

"It's scary," Keck said. "If this issue continues to go un-addressed, there's just no possibility other than to admit that Closing the Gaps was an impossible dream. And no one is prepared to say that without a great deal of pain."

Although statewide enrollment of Hispanics - the state's largest fast-growing population group - increased by 11,119 students this fall, an annual increase of approximately 24,000 is needed for the state to meet its Closing the Gaps student participation goal.

"Our inability so far to prepare and enroll more Hispanic Texans, who will account for most of the state's new workers in the future, is extremely disturbing," Paredes said, after a meeting of the THECB Thursday.

"The Coordinating Board and its staff, the Texas Education Agency, public school officials, business and community leaders, elected officials, and others must work together effectively and efficiently - and immediately - to meet this challenge."

Paredes said the state's population is growing more rapidly that anticipated, meaning that the state will need 1.63 million students instead of 1.5 million students to meet the participation goal established in the state's Closing the Gaps by 2015 higher education plan.

"These figures are very disappointing, and suggest the need for fundamental changes in the way the state prepares students for college and encourages them to enroll," Paredes said. "It's simply imperative that the state urgently develop new and innovative ways to meet this challenge, especially among large, fast-growing population groups with the lowest college-going rates."

Paredes has organized a summit in Austin on Nov. 15 and 16 so that public school, college, and university leaders can identify actions needed to promote the academic success of under-prepared students.

Paredes said he had three priorities for helping Texas meet enrollment goals for all population groups throughout the state - development a college-going culture in k-12 schools, alignment of high school exit standards and college-readiness standards, and improvement in the rigor of the senior year of high school.

The fall 2005 preliminary figures show enrollment at border universities was fairly stagnant. The figures are based on a preliminary count of 12th class day enrollment reported by higher education institutions.

TAMIU in Laredo saw an extra 239 students enrolled in fall 2005, a 5.6 percent increase. Over the same period, Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi attracted 233 more students, a 2.83 percent increase. Texas A&M University-Kingsville enrolled 441 fewer students this fall, a drop of 6.19 percent.

UT-El Paso enrolled 339 more students this fall semester, a 1.79- percent increase on the fall 2004 figures. UT-Pan American in Edinburg enrolled a mere 18 more students over the same period, a 0.11 percent increase. UT-Brownsville enrolled 416 more students, 1 10.27 percent increase.

Sul Ross State University in Alpine saw 20 fewer students enrolled in the fall of 2005, a 1.03 percent decrease. Sul Ross State University-Rio Grande College, which has campuses in Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and Uvalde, enrolled 36 fewer students, a 3.41 percent decrease.

Keck said he understood that only the Metroplex region of the state had seen enrollment growth in fall 2005. Keck said that at Wednesday's Council President's meeting, held at the Austin Club, Paredes wanted answers from the chancellors and presidents. Keck said the answer was simple.

"If you raise the price of tuition and lower scholarship support, fewer poor people can participate. And, in South Texas, we are talking about poor people," Keck said. "We agreed that the implications for Closing the Gaps is not only disappointing. We are completely off target."

Keck said the problem for border universities was not better use of best practice methods, or new strategies, or a stronger commitment. It was a matter of resources, of getting the funds to help disadvantaged students who do not have the resources to attend college.

Keck said the spike in enrollments at border universities was in 2003, when the Texas Grants program funding was at its maximum. He said that since then, the program had either been "under-funded or woefully under-funded."

Looking back at the last legislative session, Keck said he only saw very little impetus to help universities, primarily because there were no new sources of funding.

"If more students are to be funded, we need more support," Keck said. "While we hesitate and look for new strategies, students are being lost."