A hopeful first year for new Texas funding model

AUSTIN – Inside Higher Ed reports that Texas community colleges underwent a radical shift last year as the state ditched its old funding structure in favor of a new, ambitious performance-based model. Community college leaders say that, so far, the change seems to be paying off. Signed into law last summer, the new structure earned unanimous support from leaders of the state’s 50 community colleges—as well as the trepidation that comes with so significant a change. The goal of the new model is to incentivize community colleges to improve student outcomes and provide them with the cash to do so, rather than base funding on student credit hours, which makes funding heavily dependent on enrollments. To achieve that, state lawmakers budgeted $210 million more for community colleges in fiscal year 2024 than the previous year, according to documents from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.