By Katharine McAden
Texas is currently on the hunt for its next leader of higher education. Harrison Keller departed his role as commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to become president of the University of North Texas Board of Regents.
Keller leaves a strong legacy; in his five years, he made Texas one of the first states to align community colleges with workforce needs in high-demand fields. With input from education and workforce leaders, state officials developed a strategic plan for higher education called “Building a Talent Strong Texas.” This led to landmark legislation that was unanimously passed by the 88th Texas Legislature.
House Bill 8 created a $683 million increase in the state’s investment toward community colleges in three main areas: student outcomes, affordability and college capacity. This overhaul to how the state funds community colleges marks a paradigm shift, with the focus moving from enrollment numbers to student outcomes.
Under HB 8’s revamped structure, community colleges are incentivized based on tangible markers of success, including student transfers to four-year universities, completion of dual credit courses, and attainment of credentials of value that lead to good-paying jobs. Additional incentives are earmarked for credentials in high-demand fields, cultivating the complementary relationship between educators and employers.
The ripple effects of such policies extend far beyond educational institutions. If projections hold, by 2031, over 70% of jobs will require credentials and skills beyond a high school diploma. Yet college enrollment has declined at a troubling rate over the past decade. According to data compiled by the Commit Partnership, enrollment at Texas’ public two-year colleges plummeted by 15% between 2019 and 2021, eclipsing the national average decline of 13%.
By aligning curriculum with workforce demands, two-year colleges play a pivotal role in equipping students with the necessary skills to transition into the workforce seamlessly.
Strategic partnerships further amplify these endeavors, exemplified by collaborations between corporations and Texas universities. This year, Google provided a $1 million grant to the University of Texas at El Paso and additional support from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund to help the school launch a cybersecurity clinic.
The funding also includes volunteer mentorship from Googlers, Titan Security Keys, and scholarships for the Google Career Certificate in Cybersecurity. The funding is part of a $25-million-plus investment to develop 25 U.S.-based clinics by 2025, in collaboration with the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics.
Google has also long offered its career certificate program to community colleges, including Dallas Community College, where hundreds of students have graduated. These efforts recently expanded to the University of Texas and Texas State University systems, enabling thousands of students to pair an industry-recognized certificate with a degree.
The certificate program prepares people for entry-level jobs in well-paying fields such as cybersecurity and data analytics. It includes an employer consortium of over 150 companies that look to hire entry-level talent skilled in these fields. Pending rules for Texas’ historic community college finance reform, HB 8, will allow for third-party credentials like these to be fundable outcomes when offered through community colleges.
We must ensure the next commissioner of higher education will continue implementing these policy reforms and further Keller’s efforts.
By collaborating with colleges, lawmakers and business leaders to develop innovative solutions to today’s challenges, the next commissioner can solidify our state as a model for the rest of the nation.
Katharine McAden is the head of public policy and external affairs at Google in the Southern United States.
The post Opinion: What Texas needs in its next commissioner of higher education appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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