Texas-California Strategy

Exploring and Amplifying Two State Stories: New Community College Funding Formula in Texas and the Dual Enrollment Strategy of California 

Project Need 

Increasingly, community colleges are called on to serve three distinct purposes within their community: the traditional role of associate’s degree/transfer student educator, and the increasing roles of high school educator via dual enrollment and workforce training provider. As pathways to careers continue to both morph and meld, the latter two roles have become increasingly important but have not always received the equal weight of funding and prioritization needed, particularly at the state level, to support this work. 

ACCT has launched a new project exploring innovative state strategies for community college funding and dual enrollment in the states of Texas and California. This initiative explores two states that are prioritizing dual enrollment and pathways learning as part of their funding models. 

The initiative builds upon ACCT’s existing work analyzing nationwide funding strategies for community colleges. The new project will focus specifically on Texas’s new community college funding formula and California’s dual enrollment initiatives. 

Why focus on Texas?

Texas adopted an outcomes-based funding formula for community colleges in 2023. House Bill 8, the legislation that codified the new formula, is geared toward increasing the number of Texans with credentials of value. It boosted state formula community college funding by 23%--providing an additional $684 million in funding—to incentivize student-focused outcomes aligned with state and workforce needs. The outcomes-based funding is calculated based on:

• The number of credentials of value the college awards, with greater weights for high-demand fields;
• $1,700 per student for the number of high school students who earn at least 15 credit hours through academic and workforce dual credit programs. 
• $3,500 per student for the number of students who earn at least 15 credit hours and transfer to (or are co-enrolled) in a Texas four-year public university. 

The weight of the formula is based on student type with economically disadvantaged and academically disadvantaged students both weighted at 25%. Adult learners are weighted at 50%. This illustrates Texas’ commitment to closing achievement gaps.

Another component of HB 8—Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST)—includes an entitlement to dual credit financial aid. It ensures those students eligible for free and reduced price lunch don’t pay for dual credit courses, including related materials like books, fees, access to laptop, hotspots, etc. The maximum allowable tuition rates for dual credits courses are $55/semester credit hour to participate in FAST, which the state will reimburse for low-income students. 

Why focus on California?

Going back to 2016, California has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in dual enrollment pathways as a means of closing equity gaps and aligning programs to regional employment needs, starting with the inception of the College and Career Access Pathway program (CCAP). CCAP seeds partnerships between high schools and their local community colleges to provide dual enrollment programs. It is targeted at those who may not already be college bound or who are underrepresented in higher education. 

California’s legislature and governor have illustrated dedication to pathways by including dual enrollment in multiple funding streams, including those for workforce and economic development, and 

Since CCAP was implemented, California has seen a narrowing in racial equity gaps in dual enrollment, essentially closing the gap between white and Latino students.

The state community college system is laser focused on dual enrollment pathways as a means for students to successfully complete high school, enroll in college, and complete college degrees. This can be seen by California Community College System Chancellor Sonya Christian’s priority that all high school students participate in one dual enrollment course in their 9th grade year and finish high school with at least 15 college credits.

These two polices have garnered significant attention and are being watched nationwide as strategies that include the establishment of pathways through higher education. It would be beneficial on a national level to catalogue how these changes came to be, explore their viability in other states, explore their impact on students, and amplify their results. 

Project Activities 

This project will happen in two phases. The first phase will be planning, drafting, and research. Phase one activities will include research of how these policy changes came about in Texas and California including scanning existing publications and interviews with key stakeholders while tracking their progress and impact over the course of the grant. The culmination of this phase will be separate briefs focused on each of the two states to serve as the foundation for the forthcoming dissemination activities.

The dissemination portion of the project will officially launch at the February 2025 National Legislative Summit in Washington, DC. This second phase, dissemination of the research analysis and synthesis through story-telling activities, will continue throughout February through October 2025. Written products, partnerships, and presentations will help other states better understand what has and is happening in Texas and California in the target policy areas and the feasibility of implementing similar policies in their states.  

The work will culminate in a summary convening at the ACCT Leadership Congress in October of 2025. This will be a half-day event highlighting both the research findings and any outcomes and learnings available from the states following a period of implementation. This event will be recorded for wide distribution both digitally and as an article in ACCT’s Trustee Quarterly magazine.

Outcomes 

The goal of this project is that community college trustees and community college leaders nationwide will have a better understanding of the process that two states undertook to expand policies that are currently a priority for the national field of a whole. This better understanding in turn should spur action for the leaders in each state to work together to see what steps their state may take to better support and fund dual enrollment. 

On the performance-based funding front, community college trustees, presidents, and staff leaders should understand the process Texas undertook to determine the best funding process for their state and determine if a similar process, including a focus on performance based funding, would be beneficial to their state and the funding of their community colleges.

In general we want:

1. State policy makers who are aware, informed, and educated about what is happening in California around dual enrollment and in Texas with outcomes-based funding so that they consider the impact for their state. 
2. Better informed community college trustees who use insights from CA and TX and consider what lessons they could learn and apply at home.      Partner and educate other stakeholders to advance initiatives and policy in their own states, understand the necessity of dual enrollment as part of the community college mission given it is the most rapidly growing segment of community college students, and understand the importance of the student experience to ensure college and career success, including items such as enrolling in college following dual enrollment participation. 
3. Better informed community college presidents who use insights from CA and TX and consider what lessons they could learn and apply at home, understand and are able to elevate this message to their boards and elected officials, partner and educate other stakeholders to advance initiatives and policy in their own states, and lead and advocate for policies that support the dual enrolled student’s experience and their pathway to following DE participation. 
4. An expanded body of knowledge about the CA and TX policies and their implementation, codified in materials tailored for community college audiences and actors. 
5. Within the broader higher education ecosystem, expanded awareness of effective pathways policies and programs, via presentations at higher education conferences, partnerships with organizations to share content, and earned media.