While U.S. voters delivered a significant change in the 2024 federal elections, they opted for steady leadership at the state level. No state board of education shifted in partisan control, and only five seats saw a shift in political party out of 27 races that were contested in the general election. This policy update looks at the results of…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) was created by the Texas Legislature in 1965 to provide leadership and coordination for the Texas higher education system to achieve excellence for the college education of Texas students. Most of the statutes that are applicable to THECB are found in the Texas Education Code, Title 3, Section…

Zero-based budgeting was instituted in all Texas state-funded agencies in 1975-76, including colleges. The first two years of using this procedure are reviewed and its applicability to higher education institutions is examined in light of the need to consider educational quality as well as costs. (MSE)

The theme of the meeting for which these profiles were prepared is "Coordinating Higher Education: Setting State Policies in the 80s." The profiles of the 14 states covered by the Southern Regional Education Board (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,…

Profiles of the 14 states of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provide information on the structure of these states for public postsecondary education and budgeting. For each state, the following areas are discussed: state-level coordinating and/or governing agency, institutional governing boards, state board for vocational education,…

The performance funding approach mandated by the Texas state legislature and devised by the higher education coordinating board to appropriate resources to colleges and universities is explained, and the responses of institutions to it are discussed. Focus is on problems encountered and lessons learned. (MSE)

Formula budgeting for college and university facilities maintenance is recommended because: (1) formulas inject objectivity into the budgeting process by using quantified data; (2) formulas tend to improve the equitability of treatment of comparable institutions; (3) formulas are intended to provide adequate but economical budgets; and (4)…

A qualitative analysis of information pertinent to alternative teacher certification in Texas is presented. Texas reform legislation passed in 1984 included a requirement for the State Board of Education to provide a route to teacher certification for those who were not graduates of teacher education programs. Those persons would be required to…

A vigorous, well-financed lobbying drive organized by supporters of higher education managed to cajole the Texas Legislature and the Governor to award large increases in state support. At the same time laws to stop the growth of some institutions, to raise academic standards, and overhaul teacher education were adopted. (MLW)

This report on the status of higher education in Texas covers enrollment trends, quality and access, research, campus planning, funding, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board activities. The first section looks at enrollment trends and projections to the year 2005 highlighting an expected 250 percent increase in the number now attending…

A project was undertaken to develop a catalog of professional and technical competencies needed by a teacher to teach all areas of industrial arts given in the Texas State Board of Education-approved revised curriculum as well as to define and recommend guidelines for implementation of competency testing for industrial arts. Following a research…

In 1975 the coordinating board undertook a study of upper-level institutions, upper-level centers, and extension program study centers at public institutions. The final report explains these elements of the three kinds of institution: background, organization, enrollment and academic programs, special programs, facilities, comparable educational…

The Transfer Success Work Group was established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and the Texas Association of Junior and Community College Instructional Administrators to investigate the effectiveness of the state's public community college transfer function and make recommendations for improving transfer efficiency. The…

Costs associated with colleges and universities are addressed in this two-part report. Part one, a 20-page overview, Snyder's "Recent Trends in Higher Education Finance, 1976-77 to 1985-86," reviews rising national trends in tuition, enrollment, degrees, expenditures, and expenditure per student. A wide diversity is noted among…