It’s time to end the hidden tax on Texas college tuition

In 2013, as chair of the Senate Education Committee, I worked with the House to unanimously pass legislation to ensure that every Texas student would be prepared for college or a career.

Many students in Texas need assistance in reaching that goal. As lieutenant governor, I want that aid to be paid for by the state, not other students and parents, as has been done in the past.

Current tuition set asides are a stealth tax on every parent and student paying tuition. Up to 15 percent of what they pay automatically goes to aid for other students.

I want to reduce tuition by that same amount and have the state appropriate the money for student aid instead of it coming out of tuition paid by other students and parents.

Texas is spending more on higher education than ever before.

State funding increased 40 percent from 2004 to 2015, but during that same period, higher education funding from all sources increased by 85 percent — bringing the total to over $13 billion.

Administrative costs increased 149 percent, but the increase in funding going directly to the classroom during that same period is less than half of that — 65 percent.

I first proposed eliminating tuition set-asides in 2009, when I was a senator.

In that legislative session, I passed SB 1304 to require institutions to provide notice about the set-asides to students on their tuition bills so that parents and students could see how much they were paying for this hidden tax.

When received by needy students, money from the set-asides is called a “grant,” but it should be called “other students’ and parents’ money,” because that is who is paying.

Sixty-two percent of Texas students graduate with college debt — $30,000 on average for those who have earned a bachelor's degree.

More insidious is the fact that many middle-class families have to borrow money to pay tuition, meaning they will pay interest on that 15 percent of their loan that actually went to other students.

In proposing to eliminate tuition set-asides, I have said repeatedly that I do not propose ending financial aid for students in need. Instead, that funding should be provided by the Legislature, not other students and their parents.

In 2015, the Legislature appropriated $4.8 billion — a 9 percent increase — in funding for public universities.

As lawmakers, our motivation was to help address the skyrocketing tuition rates.

Tuition has increased 147 percent in Texas since 2003, while the median family income has increased only 32 percent during the same time.

Unfortunately, increasing state funding in 2015 did not stop the rise in tuition rates.

U. S. Dept. of Education data show that the average graduation rate at Texas public colleges and universities is below the national average. Unfortunately, unlike high schools, there is no penalty for these failures by colleges.

It is time that we also hold colleges and universities accountable for these rising costs and low graduation rates instead of pushing the costs and massive debt onto students.

An important step in that direction is getting rid of the 15 percent tax students are now paying on tuition.

The average family is being priced out of a college education in Texas. This has to end.

This is not an easy problem to solve, and the upcoming legislative session brings many funding challenges.

But I am committed to making college affordable for all Texans.

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 5:15 PM with the headline "It’s time to end the hidden tax on Texas college tuition."