Trends and issues

Edufacts™ – April 2003

Although state grant aid* to students in higher education has risen 161 percent in Texas since the mid-1990s, primarily as a result of establishment of the TEXAS Grant program in 1999, total state grant aid is less than half that of other large states. This is because Texas started from a lower threshold. In 1995-1996, Texas spent $45 million in need-based and non-need-based grants, less than half the $101 million spent by the next lowest comparable state, Florida. By 2000-2001, Texas was spending $116 million. But even with this increase, Texas was spending just 38 percent of the amount spent by Florida, and only 18 percent of the amount spent by New York.

In 2000-2001, the second year of the TEXAS Grant program, Texas awarded $35.8 million in the program. However, this amount did not bring Texas up to par with the national average or with other large states.

The TEXAS Grant assists both public and private school students, but 86 percent of the aid goes to students attending public schools. TEXAS Grant recipients must be enrolled on at least a three-quarter-time basis. They must also maintain a GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, complete at least 75 percent of the credit hours undertaken the previous academic year, and demonstrate financial need as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In 2000-2001, the TEXAS Grant helped 18,162 students go to colleges and universities in Texas.

*State grant aid does not include grants awarded by public colleges and universities from their own revenue sources, such as tuition, fees, and returns on endowment investments.

Source: The State of Student Financial Aid in Texas 2003, published by TG.

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