Financial Aid Fix Raises Concerns About Poorer Students

By Jeannie Kever, Houston Chronicle

Jul. 22–Amid growing public grumbling over the rising cost of college, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will vote this week on whether to restructure the state’s financial aid programs.

The most controversial change would raise academic standards for the Texas Grant program, which helps low-income students pay for college.

Other proposed changes include merging two smaller aid programs with Texas Grant and raising the income level at which students qualify.

That has some people worried middle-class students will receive aid at the expense of those from poor families.

“In a state that desperately needs to close the gaps … this widens the gaps,” said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, one of the original sponsors of the Texas Grant.

The program now serves students from families earning $39,000 or less who complete the “recommended” high school curriculum. That curriculum, which includes four years each of English, math and science, recently became required for virtually all Texas high school students.

New requirements A board committee will consider the proposed changes Wednesday. The full board votes Thursday. The Legislature will have the final say.

Both a consulting group and Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes have recommended new academic requirements.

Higher Education Insight Associates recommended students should:

— Earn a 1350 on the SAT (out of a possible 2400) or 18 on the ACT and complete the recommended curriculum, or

— graduate in the top half of their senior class with the recommended curriculum, or

— complete a more rigorous high school curriculum.

Paredes recommended:

— Graduating in the top 30 percent of the class with the recommended curriculum, or

— completing a more rigorous high school curriculum, or

— earning a high school GPA of at least 3.0.

Lois Hollis, senior adviser to the deputy commissioner for business and finance, said the increased standards reflect the fact that almost all students meet the previous academic requirement of completing the recommended curriculum. The Texas Grant was always intended for students who demonstrate both financial need and merit, she said.

Ellis last week wrote to Paredes and board members, noting that the proposals “will disproportionately impact low-income students, students of color, first-generation college students and other non-traditional students who attempt to attain higher education.”

Potential effect Board members will be briefed on the impact before they vote, Hollis said.

But college financial aid officers already are talking.

“The changes will effectively cut off many of these students,” said Max Castillo, president of the University of Houston-Downtown.

Even under the current criteria, only about half of students who qualify receive a grant because there isn’t enough money, Ellis said. Texas ranks last in per capita spending for college grants among the 10 most populous states, according to the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs.

Ellis long has urged more state spending. “We ought to find a way to do something for the middle class,” he said. But he said the help shouldn’t come at the expense of lower-income students.

If approved, the new merit criteria would apply to students entering high school in fall 2009, Hollis said.

jeannie.kever@chron.com

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