Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

In 2003-04, almost half of all students enrolled at public and independent colleges and universities in Texas received some form of need-based financial assistance to help pay for college (47.4 percent). Despite this large demand, Texas continues to rank last among the six largest states -- California, New York, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania -- in the amount of grant aid awarded per student.

As the pie chart below demonstrates, the largest source of financial assistance for Texas students is provided through federal programs, such as Pell Grants and federal loans. The second largest source of grant aid in Texas is private institutional aid, such as institutional programs and private/foundational programs. The state of Texas provides only 9.5 percent of financial assistance to college students.

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The TEXAS Grant is the largest state grant program. Recipients must graduate on the Recommended High School Program and maintain a college GPA of 2.5 to remain eligible. Since its creation, the program has been very successful. More needy students are taking a more rigorous curriculum in high school in exchange for receiving financial assistance to help pay for college.

There is increasing concern that the state is not meeting its end of the bargain, however, as state funding for the program has remained flat. This is due to the state not appropriating enough money to meet the need and demand for the program and the rising cost of the program due to increasing tuition at Texas public universities through tuition deregulation. The average award amount is pegged to tuition and fees. As the chart below shows in 2006, 25,303 of the 77,748 eligible TEXAS grant recipients will not receive awards. This number will increase to 44,808 students that do not receive awards in 2007.

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In response, Senator Shapleigh has requested that Lt. Governor Dewhurst address the issues related to “Closing the Financial Gaps in Higher Education” during the interim.

"The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has informed the legislature that the next legislative session will be our last opportunity to timely address these funding issues. We no longer have the luxury of funding higher education in our state based on the personal agendas of individual politicians. Rather we need to fund our higher education based on the economic and academic needs of our state. The state must fulfill its obligation to TEXAS Grant recipients and find a solution to ensure that money will be available each year for eligible students," Senator Shapleigh stated.