Texas community college leaders examine effects of 2023 funding reform

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Grayson College President Jeremy McMillen said the Sherman-area community college has seen enrollment bounce back and funneled more students into nursing in the two years since Texas overhauled community college funding to incentivize student completion.

Community college advocates in North Texas gathered Wednesday at Texas Woman’s University in Denton for an event hosted by The Texas Tribune to discuss the impacts of House Bill 8, a pivotal 2023 law that changed how Texas funds community colleges. The schools now get rewarded when students complete a degree or certificate, transfer to a four-year university or complete college credit in high school.

The new HB 8 funds helped Grayson College launch a program to upskill adults who are already working in health care as patient care technicians but want to advance as nurses. Texoma Medical Center, a local employer, helps reimburse students who enroll in the nursing program $5,200 a year for their tuition. About 80% of its incoming nurses come from Grayson College, according to Texoma Medical Center CEO Sean Dardeau.

“These expanded funds have a very high return,” Dardeau said. “They buy cars, they buy homes, they stimulate the local economy. So it's really important that we have this program, we grow this program, we sustain this program. It usually serves local students who grew up here, want to live here, want to work here, that have a connection and commitment to their communities.”

Lawmakers will get a chance to amend the funding system at the Capitol this session.

The panelists on Wednesday said the Texas Legislature must revisit how community colleges get rewarded for transfers to include when students move onto private universities.

Dallas College helped panelist Daisy Donjuan find a way to transfer to Austin College at an affordable cost after she finished her associate’s degree in paralegal.

“All the work that Dallas College put into me to be where I'm at, and I'm still in a school in Texas, but because it was a private institution, it didn't qualify,” said Donjuan, who sat on the student advisory council that advocated for HB 8.

Senate Bill 49 would expand the transfer incentive to include students enrolling in private universities. Already, the Senate bill has garnered some bipartisan support. Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a Laredo Democrat, coauthored the proposal with Sen. Pete Flores, a Pleasanton Republican, and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

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