Commissioner Responds to Media on Financial Aid

As reported here earlier, Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes favors awarding financial aid to students based not only on need, but merit (as measured by achievement and aptitude scores) as well. At the July 24 meeting of the Coordinating Board, in a rare conference call with Board members, Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) urged the panel to stick with the current TEXAS Grant program's need-based criteria. Without making any specific recommendation, the Coordinating Board passed along the commissioner's recommendation to the governor's office and LBB for consideration.

It is shaping up as an important debate. The commissioner argues that need-plus-merit produces better results. Sen. Ellis (a chief architect of the TEXAS Grants) says the current system is working, and reaching the students who need the aid most.

All are agreed the program should be better funded. However, some newspaper reports have apparently left the impression that the commissioner and Coordinating Board don't favor increases in funding for the TEXAS Grant program.

In an August 6 editorial in the Austin American-Statesman (registration), the commissioner attempts to set the record straight. Along the way he also endorses increased funding for student aid directed to community colleges.

From the piece by Dr. Paredes:

Here are the facts.

In mid-2007, the Legislature directed the board to undertake a study of financial aid to be submitted to the legislature by Aug. 1. The board, in turn, commissioned Higher Education Insights Associates (HEIA) to conduct the feasibility study. During late 2007 and early 2008, HEIA reviewed financial aid programs and offered recommendations in a report to the Coordinating Board in June 2008. The Coordinating Board met and discussed the recommendations for over three hours in a meeting on July 24. At the end of the meeting, the board did not approve or endorse any recommendations but authorized that the study be forwarded to the Legislature as required by Aug. 1.

The board directed other staff members and me to gather data on the impact the recommendations could have on students so they could consider final recommendations at a meeting in October.

Some media stories have mischaracterized the board's position on financial aid with statements such as "instead of increasing funding for student aid, Texas officials want to toughen eligibility standards."

In fact, increasing funding for state financial aid programs has been the coordinating board's priority since the inception of the TEXAS Grant program in 1999.

At the July 24 meeting, the board approved a request to the Legislature for more than $1.41 billion in student financial aid for 2010-2011, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the $746 million currently authorized.

And:

Not only does the board propose increases for TEXAS Grant which primarily is received by university students, but also for financial aid at community colleges, where the largest number of Texas students begin their college studies.

The feasibility study makes 16 recommendations regarding financial aid, but the sticking point lies principally with one that suggests several stronger academic criteria — ACT and SAT scores, class standing, more rigorous courses — for new TEXAS Grant recipients.

I happen to agree that the academic eligibility criteria for TEXAS Grants should be strengthened, and for several years, I have expressed support for "need+ merit" approaches to financial aid.

Research indicates that the best way to help all students, including the poor and students of color, is to set high academic standards for all and to provide each student the academic support necessary to reach them. I categorically reject arguments that suggest any group of students cannot achieve — or should not be held to — high standards.

Over the next several months, coordinating board staff members and I will examine various financial aid models that combine need with merit criteria that are challenging but not onerous. We will confer with political leaders as well as educators and financial aid experts. Only then will we offer recommendations for the coordinating board's consideration.