Published: February 21, 2010

Houston, Texas (02-12-2010 – Strategic Partnership Inc. Report): The enrollments has increased by double digits in the community colleges of Texas and many show record numbers. Still the community colleges in Texas are caught between a rock and a hard place.

While the struggling national economy and an increasing number of unemployed Texans caused their student populations to increase by an average of 12 percent during the last year, community colleges have been asked like every other state agency to trim their costs by 5 percent. Those budget reduction proposals are due later this month.

So the institutions are being asked to take on more students and do it with less money.

Many are seeking exemptions or waivers from the cuts sought by the state's leadership - Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus. Letters from community college officials have been hitting the desks of state officials in recent weeks.

The proposed cuts couldn't come at a worse time, according to Dr. Rey Garcia, President and CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC), "because of the unique role community colleges play in the economy right now."

Garcia noted that because of the downturn in the economy, many displaced workers are showing up on the doorsteps of the 50 TACC member institutions "trying to get the skills they need to get a job."

With that important role of trying to help jobless Texans hone their skills and get back to work, Garcia said the proposed 5 percent cuts for community colleges are like "cutting off your nose to spite your face."

Where those cuts would come from vary from community college to community college. At Ranger College, President William Campion said a 5 percent cut could result in reducing the number of classes offered, increasing class sizes, expanding distance education and possibly freezing hiring and reducing salaries.

At the Lone Star College System in the Houston area, nearly 15,000 new students were added last year, according to Garcia. The system instituted a tuition increase just last year.

And for those who might remind that four-year institutions, too, are having to make that same 5 percent cut, Garcia notes, "The University of Texas at Austin is in a steady state. It's not growing. We're (community colleges) having to take a cut at the same time that we're growing."

How to make up the lost revenue? "Everything is on the table," said Garcia. "Every institution will be looking at its array of services and how to narrow those services." And the two least palatable solutions that most of the colleges will have to consider are tax increases or tuition hikes.

The TACC president said a 5 percent cut will have different effects on different colleges. "If it's a big urban college, it is probably less dependent on state money than is a small rural college. If you have a big tax base to rely on, the hit won't be as big as if you were a small community college in East Texas where 5 percent would be a pretty meaningful cut."

Making things even worse, said Garcia, is the fact that community colleges have already committed their budgeted money through the spring. "The only degree of freedom they will have (for cuts) will be in summer school."

The only concession so far is that instead of a 5 percent cut in expenditures during each year of the upcoming biennium, the colleges can take 10 percent out of just the second year. The only advantage to that, said Garcia, is that colleges "would have time to plan" budget cuts.

The huge increases in community college enrollment can be attributed, said the TACC official, to returning adults seeking new skills to help in their job searches, some students who started at four-year institutions now turning to community colleges because it is more economical and the addition of some first-time students.

Some community colleges in other states are facing similar problems and are being forced to return to their core services such as those in Texas - providing courses that transfer to four-year colleges, providing developmental and education courses and providing workforce training. Texas two-year colleges could face similar challenges.

So what does the future hold for Texas community colleges? "We're just like every other institution," said Garcia. "We're trying to fulfill our mission and do it with the state, but we understand our state partner is in rough waters right now."

And the biggest concern for community colleges?

"That this is just the tip of the iceberg."

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