Paredes forecasts higher ed challenges
The state’s higher education coordinating board has been working to close gaps in Texas since 2000 and is still actively working to achieve its “60x30TX” plan, the board’s commissioner said Wednesday.
Raymund Paredes, the Texas Higher Education Commissioner, discussed that plan, which aims to equip 60 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 with a postsecondary education and make college more affordable, during a conference call with media this week . Paredes highlighted accomplishments made during his 15 years heading the board, as well as the remaining challenges the board faces as it aims to reach major goals by 2030.
Paredes will officially step down Aug. 31 and the call was expected to be his last update on the work of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
So far, there’s been progress, Paredes said, including the establishment of several
campus food pantries and clothing closets around the state, where students can receive free food and borrow business attire for job interviews, respectively. Institutions are also working to establish emergency financial aid funds to help students with unexpected costs.
There’s still more to be done though, especially as institutions and higher ed officials realize how difficult it is for students to stay in school, Paredes said.
Texas college-going rates are especially low for males, particularly African-American and Latino men, according to the board’s 2019 almanac. In 2018, males made up only 43 percent of total public higher education enrollment in Texas, it stated.
Another major concern is college affordability, which has become a national discussion, sometimes overshadowed by the desire for college to be completely free, Paredes said.
“We can get bogged down in that kind of debate for years,” Paredes said, but “affordability is the way to begin the argument (or) the debate, and I think we’re doing a lot of things to make higher education more affordable.”
Paredes said initiatives that are making progress and helping maintain college affordability in the state include dual credit programs, paid internships, the board’s Texas Affordable Baccalaureate program, which offers a bachelor’s degree at a reduced price, and income-based tuition assistance models at public colleges — the greatest which covers tuition and fees for students whose family income is $65,000
or less.
Texas does, however, have significant challenges when it comes to higher education, the commissioner said.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of helping low-income students,” he said, but much of the existing forms of financial aid exclude middle income students and their families, some of which have more than one child going to college. Paredes said he hopes to see more financial aid for middle income students and their families between the $70,000 and $110,000 income bracket.
Paredes also urged institutions to think outside of the traditional structure of higher education in order to drive down costs, improve graduation rates and get closer to the state’s education goals.
For example, encouraging students to go to college year-round
could result in them graduating in four years or less, which could improve the state’s graduation rates and drive college costs down. And with the state’s college-going rate for high school graduates at 52 percent — lower than the national average of 67 percent — Paredes said ensuring that students don’t take long breaks after high school or between semesters can help avoid “summer melt,” which happens when students accept enrollment early on but don’t show up on campus in the fall.
Paredes also stated that he’s still a strong supporter of performance-based funding for all public higher education institutions, which legislation granted increased funding for community and technical colleges based on how many students they graduated on time.
“It sounds like a broken record,” he said of the many initiatives.
“But I’ll keep saying it until we get it done.”
But he cautioned institutions and officials about expanding higher education opportunities and programs without receiving adequate funding from the state. Doing so will only “expand mediocrity across the space,” he said.
Paredes said he’s still weighing his options for the future — which does not immediately include retirement. He said he’ll still be involved in higher education, with hopes to help ensure HB 3 — a historic education finance bill passed by state lawmakers earlier this year — “gets implemented to its fullest potential.” Teaching parttime is also a possibility, he said.
Although his last day is next week, he said he’ll stay on as needed until the new commissioner is announced and on board.