College goal goes back to school funds

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s lofty plan to increase the number of Texans who hold certificates or degrees by 2030 is progressing slowly, and it may not hit its target.

The 60x30TX plan is simple and straightforward: Have at least 60 percent of Texans ages 25 to 34 earn degrees or certificates by 2030.

Achieving this goal would be a monumental feat, but progress has been limited. When the plan was launched in 2015, about 40 percent of the targeted age group held a post-high school certificate or college degree. By 2018 that percentage had grown to 43.5 percent.

Part of the challenge is a lack of college readiness among high school graduates — once again underscoring the need for dedicated state funding for K-12 education. The 2019 Higher Education Almanac, which documents progress on meeting the 60x30TX plan, indicates many high school students simply are not graduating college-ready and end up having to take noncredit remedial courses when they arrive on college campuses. That’s precious time and money.

That lack of preparedness is reflected in the state’s 62 percent college graduation rate. While completion rates are gradually increasing, they remain low overall.

At the University of Texas at San Antonio, the fouryear graduation rate is 32 percent and the six-year graduation rate is 59.5 percent. At the Alamo Colleges, the six-year completion rate for an associate degree ranges from 26.8 percent to 47.4 percent at the five campuses. Six-year graduation rates are unavailable for Texas A&M University-San Antonio because it only started offering lower division courses in 2016.