POLS 207- Public Higher Education

Public Higher Education in the States

Primary & secondary education (K-12)

• Large role for local gov’ts

• School districts or city / county

• Variance in state centralization over education

Higher education

• Role of gov’t is largely at the state level

• More recently, expanded emphasis on local/community colleges (public junior colleges)

Roles of Govts in Higher Education

Local gov’ts

• May fund community colleges w/ local taxes

• May offer scholarships or reduced tuition to local residents

States

• Establish & share responsibility for funding public universities

• Allowed to charge different tuition for non-residents

• (Doesn’t violate U.S. Constitution’s privileges & immunities clause!)

Federal

• Accrediting bodies recognized by U.S. Dept. of Education

• Various federal grants are important sources of revenue

Key Federal Involvement in Higher Ed.

• Morrill Act (1862)

• Land-grant act aimed to open educational opportunities to farmers & working class

• Federal land donated to states to establish colleges & universities “for the benefit of agriculture & the mechanic arts”

Morrill Act (1890)

• Aimed to extend the Morrill Act to former Confederate states by addressing race restrictions

• Required states either to:

• Show race was not an admissions criterion

• -OR- Designate a separate institution for black students…

• Mixed legacy:

• Creation of HBCUs that provided educational opportunity for black Americans

• Allowed for the segregation of higher education

Hatch Act (1887)

• Federal grants-in-aid for agricultural research, writ broad

• Established of State Agricultural Experiment Stations to conduct research

• E.g. Texas A&M AgriLife Research

• Other federal grants

• Gov’t funding given directly to those providing a service

• E.g. NIH grants, NEH grants, DoE grants

• Increasingly important due to changing funding composition

• Funding environment uncertainty due to recent federal cuts

Role of States in Higher Education

Establish colleges & universities

State regulation of colleges & universities, including:

• Tuition, financing, reporting

• Research

• Admissions

• E.g. “Top 10% Rule”

• Some curriculum requirements

• E.g. Core Curriculum

• Share responsibility for funding

Board of Regents

Governing body for a Texas public university (or system)

• 9-member board, 6-year staggered terms

• Appointed by the Governor, confirmed by the TX Senate

Key functions:

• Provide financial oversight

• Final approval in tenure cases

• Control & direct university policy

Long-running debates regarding how “hands on” Regents should be in university governance

• Traditional role, few details in law, much left to interpretation

• 2025: Powers significantly expanded with S.B. 37

Funding Institutions of Higher Learning

Funding sources for Texas public universities:

• Appropriation in state budget

• Permanent University Fund (for UT & A&M)

• Texas University Fund (for “emerging research universities”)

• Endowments, donations, gifts, etc.

• Public & private grants

• …AND student tuition & fees

Rising Cost of Higher Education

Some drivers of rising cost of higher education:

1. Available supply of federal student aid & tuition inflation

2. Student demand for services & facilities

3. Declining state support

Changes in Composition of Higher Ed. Funding in TX

State Support for Higher Education

States are required to pass a balance budget

• In economic downturns, states cut funding

• Higher ed. funding generally easier to “cut” than K-12 ed.

During recoveries, states resume some of their funding

• But rarely does per-student funding return to former levels!

• Result: Change in composition of higher ed. funding over time

• % from state appropriation per FTE student has decreased

• % from tuition & fees fer FTE student has increased

Public Universities Becoming Less Public

2003: 78th Texas Legislature meets

• Texas faces a revenue shortfall

• Lege wants to balance budget w/o raising taxes!

Result: Tuition deregulation

• Legislature cedes control of setting tuition costs to colleges & universities to make up for higher ed. funding cuts

• The market sets the price (not the state legislature)

• Lawmakers insulated from political backlash when cost increases!

Ongoing attempts to address college affordability

• Policies considered include performance-based tuition increases, tuition freezes or caps, return to regulation

Assessing Education Policy in TX

Education is one of the states’ biggest spending items

Texas is a low-tax, low-spending state

• For K-12, state pushes costs to local gov’t

• Result is high local property taxes

• Use of property taxes also creates educational inequities

• For higher ed., costs pushed to students, families, etc.

“Winners” are arguably those who do not & will not utilize state-supported educational services

• And the losers…