Proposal to tie college funds to completion rate - KXXV-TV News Channel 25 - Central Texas News and Weather for Waco, Temple, Killeen |

By MICHAEL BRICK
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas lawmakers are working on a proposal to tie higher education funding to completion rates at state universities.

House Higher Education Committee Chairman Dan Branch will give details of his plan in a news conference on Wednesday.

Under current policy, much of the funding for colleges is based on enrollment figures. Branch, who's a Dallas Republican, has filed legislation to link more appropriations with measures of student success.

The state Higher Education Coordinating Board says college enrollment has increased by more than half a million students statewide since 2000. But an advocacy group called Complete College America says college completion rates have changed little since 1970.

The Legislature cut $1 billion in higher education funding during the last session in 2011.

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