Rylander idea could benefit CC

An election year proposal from Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander has gotten the attention of officials at Clarendon College and other junior colleges around the state.

Last Tuesday, Rylander unveiled her TexasNextStep proposal, which would allow any graduating high school senior in the state to attend a community college or technical school free for two years.

“My goal is clear – I want Texas to have the most educated workforce in the nation,” Rylander said, noting that the program will make a K-14 education the norm in Texas.

TexasNextStep would use $150 million in lottery revenues to pay the tuition and required fees, plus the cost of textbooks, of every Texas student who enrolls within 16 months of high school graduation. The program would cover up to 60 semester hours plus any remediation needed.

“I think it’s a good plan,” said CC President Myles Shelton. “But any proposal in a campaign year has some ambiguity to it.”

Shelton said Rylander has captured the interest of community colleges, but more information is still needed. He also questioned how the new program would interact with existing state and federal financial aid programs.

Rylander’s website says the new program would cover expenses for students in two-year schools while existing programs would be used for those who directly enter four-year schools or transfer from a community college.

“If it really is a program that pays for two years of college regardless of financial need and separate from other programs, then I wonder if $150 million is really enough,” Shelton said.

CC is one of the smallest colleges in the state, and it alone collects approximately $1 million in tuition and fees.

The concept of using state lottery revenue to pay for college educations is not new. Shelton said the idea has been talked about in Texas ever since Georgia started a similar program several years ago.

“This has the potential to be a great thing for our college and our community,” Shelton said.

TexasNextStep is far from becoming reality though. Rylander, who faces Democratic challenger Marty Atkins in November, will have to win re-election, and then the new Legislature would have to implement the idea if the money is available.

Still, Rylander hopes the program will disprove a prediction from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics which says 60 percent of Texans will have only a high school diploma or less by 2030.