Houston Democrats

Currently, the TEXAS Grant program provides students with much needed grant money to assist them in paying their tuition and fees. Recipients of the program must have completed minimum core requirements during high school to even be eligible. As budget cuts to this program decreases the number of recipients, current public policy is ignoring the needs of the vast majority of students. These programs hardly put a dent in the graduation rate program and it is evident that much more is needed to improve those rates.

Now, a Republican wants to tie the grant program with a loan program called B-on-Time, which was designed to force students to graduate within four years. In this proposal, students would get TEXAS Grants the first two years, then would receive B-on-Time loan money the next two years.

Luckily, we have State Senator Rodney Ellis who is leading the fight against the merger and against any call for time restrictions when it comes to financial aid and graduation.

"To fight the plans, Ellis said he is "sounding the alarm." He has written university presidents from around the state, including Jay Gogue, president of UH. He is meeting with student newspapers, editorial boards and has sent information packets to his colleagues.

Public university presidents have been slow to get involved, Ellis said, because they are scared they could lose funding elsewhere. Sometimes it comes down to lobbying for the grants or for a new science building.

"They need to decide what their priorities are," he said, "the students who they are charged with educating, or putting more money into the infrastructure. I'm not all that sure they can't make a case for both."

Gogue said UH students benefit at a far greater rate from TEXAS Grants than they do from the B-On-Time program. He said 82 percent of his students work at least 30 hours a week, and imposing a time restriction for graduation could cause problems.

"That's a pretty tough road for most people," he said.

Gogue said he understands lawmakers are worried about the state's growing population, but if changes have to be made, he would advocate for restrictions on the number of courses a student has to take, rather than the amount of time one has to complete them."

Somewhere along this debate, elected officials on both sides of the aisle are ignoring the roots of the graduation rate problem--lack of college preparedness after K-12; an ever-increasing need for developmental, or remedial, courses prior to enrolling in "regular" college courses; an increasing number of first-generation college students; increasing tuition and student service fees; and a lack of student retention programs, particularly within the first two-years of college.

Although the TEXAS Grant program provides much needed funding for students (115,000 students since 1999), the bottom line is that the graduation rate problem will not be dealt with until Texas legislators put OUR money where their mouths are and increase funding for college programs that target the above-mentioned issues taking colleges and universities by storm. If we are truly serious about increasing college graduation rates, then we will deal with college preparedness, first-generation, and student retention issues first.

Obviously, Republicans care little about assuring a well-prepared Texas workforce. Democrats must take the lead and challenge the Republicans on this issue as it affects the vast majority of Texans.

Kudos to Senator Ellis, and thanks!