Texas lawmakers have abandoned a plan to cut all funding to four of the state's community colleges, but those schools and other community colleges across the country still face dramatic cuts in funding, David Harrison of Stateline.org reports. Frank Phillips College, a 1,300-student school in Borger, Tex., population 13,000, was originally scheduled to lose all funding but now faces a 20 percent cut. "This takes us, I think, to the lowest funding level in history, if you look on a per-student basis," Rey Garcia, the president of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, told Harrison.
"In 2009, the latest year for which figures are available, the state share of community college funding fell by one percentage point to 26.8 percent, the lowest level in at least five years," Harrison writes. Still, enrollment at community colleges rose 20 percent between 2004 and 2008, according to federal data. In addition to Texas, the community college funding crisis appears most severe in California and Arizona. "All are making deep budget cuts that seem destined to fundamentally change the nature of what community colleges do, how many students they serve and what they charge for tuition," Harrison writes.
Frank Phillips College officials wonder how long their school can exist in the current economic climate. "We have 58,000 people in our nine-county service area and we have no other institution of higher education anywhere in there," President Jud Hicks said. "I'll call it a moral obligation to educate citizens in our service area." Deborah Summers, an anthropology professor at the school, notes "Whether those people in Austin believe it needs to go or not doesn't matter. We know we're important, and we know we're going to be here. There are very strong numbers of older ranch women like myself here that don't like being told what to do." (Read more)
Stateline's map showing state specific changes in enrollment and funding at community colleges, which are especially important in rural areas, is here.
"In 2009, the latest year for which figures are available, the state share of community college funding fell by one percentage point to 26.8 percent, the lowest level in at least five years," Harrison writes. Still, enrollment at community colleges rose 20 percent between 2004 and 2008, according to federal data. In addition to Texas, the community college funding crisis appears most severe in California and Arizona. "All are making deep budget cuts that seem destined to fundamentally change the nature of what community colleges do, how many students they serve and what they charge for tuition," Harrison writes.
Frank Phillips College officials wonder how long their school can exist in the current economic climate. "We have 58,000 people in our nine-county service area and we have no other institution of higher education anywhere in there," President Jud Hicks said. "I'll call it a moral obligation to educate citizens in our service area." Deborah Summers, an anthropology professor at the school, notes "Whether those people in Austin believe it needs to go or not doesn't matter. We know we're important, and we know we're going to be here. There are very strong numbers of older ranch women like myself here that don't like being told what to do." (Read more)
Stateline's map showing state specific changes in enrollment and funding at community colleges, which are especially important in rural areas, is here.
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