Texas Need Of The Services Of Higher Education PDF Download

This report was developed in response to Texas Education Code 61.051(i), requiring the Coordinating Board to develop a long-range plan for higher education, by region. A wide variety of factors, including educational attainment of the current population, existing degree programs, programs where significant unmet need may exist, programs provided by independent institutions, and geographic areas of the state which may have a greater need for higher education services were reviewed. In addition, through a cooperative effort with the Texas Education Agency, the Coordinating Board is for the first time able to track public school students through higher education enrollment and degree completion. As a result, a discussion of the 1992 cohort of public school seventh-grade students by ethnicity, gender and region as they enrolled in and graduated from public higher education by 2003 is now possible. Analysis of this and other longitudinal data offers more detailed and definitive information that can lead to better policy decisions for improving higher education in Texas. The report concludes with recommendations that build upon recommendations originally presented in 2002: (1) The state should ensure that all regions have access to quality undergraduate and graduate education opportunities; (2) The Coordinating Board should study future faculty needs at all levels of higher education throughout the state; (3) Coordinating Board staff will meet with representatives of institutions in each region to discuss any unmet high-demand degree program needs in their regions. Program proposals submitted to address unmet needs would continue to go through the Coordinating Board?s normal review and approval process and would be considered in the context of statewide needs. The following are appended: (1) Legislative Requirements; (2) State Overview; (3) High-Demand Degree Areas; (4) Review of Select Professions in Texas; and (5) Texas Institutions of Higher Education. (Contains 8 tes.).