COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION of TEXAS
2014 Impact Report
Case Study: Community Colleges and Student Success Why are community colleges and student success important? Since 2004, Educate Texas has worked with community colleges and regional universities statewide (such as the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Brownsville) through the Early College High School (ECHS) initiative, which has grown to 65 campuses serving more than 20,000 students. Over the past three years, Educate Texas has broadened this work to include postsecondary policy and the convening of key stakeholders focused on improving community colleges. Across Texas, the state’s 50 community colleges serve more than 833,000 (53 percent) of all students in public higher education, and they are the preferred gateway to postsecondary education for an even greater percentage of our first-generation, low-income students. Given this, community colleges play a critical role in increasing the state’s educational-attainment goals. Unfortunately, six-year graduation rates for full- and part-time students currently stand at only 31 percent and 24 percent, respectively. In prior years, Texas had experienced a major schism among community college leaders, some members of the business community, and the executive branch, culminating in the Texas Association of Business (TAB)’s purchase of billboards in Austin and Dallas that highlighted low graduation and completion rates in the Dallas County Community College District and at Austin Community College. If Texas is to remain economically competitive, it clearly must do better in this regard, but improving the situation must go beyond just highlighting the problem; it must focus on a state policy that supports community colleges’ efforts to improve student success. Educate Texas’ efforts are focused on advocacy in helping to develop this state policy framework, with the goal of serving as a thought partner in and resource for the governor’s office, the lieutenant governor’s office, and key legislative offices on policy issues that move the needle forward on student success. What has Educate Texas done? In its advocacy role, Educate Texas has worked closely with Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Judith Zaffirini, House Higher Education Committee Chair Dan Branch, and Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes on House Bill 2910 during the 2011 legislative session. This legislation helps create public/private partnerships to identify and promote innovative models, emerging technology platforms and best practices for increasing degree-completion rates in areas such as developmental education, financial aid, student support services, and transfer/articulation agreements. Building on that work and our partnership with a group of community colleges striving to dramatically increase completion rates, Educate Texas created the Texas Student Success Council in 2012—which includes state and field stakeholders representing education (K-16), business and labor, and nonprofits and philanthropy groups—to provide a forum for engaging policy stakeholders in increasing postsecondary completion rates, particularly in community colleges. Chaired by Dr. Richard Rhodes (president of Austin Community College), the council helps identify and mitigate
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