SAN ANTONIO – On Monday, Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, reintroduced legislation to make higher education more affordable for middle-class Texans by controlling cost growth at public universities in Texas.
Senate Bill 250 would cap tuition and fees at their current levels and limit any future increases to no more than the rate of inflation, according to a news release from the state of Texas.
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"Attending one of our world-class public universities shouldn't be a luxury afforded only to the wealthy or those willing to mortgage their futures through massive student loan debt," Schwertner said. "The rising cost of higher education represents a hidden tax on tens of thousands of middle-class families. If we fail to address this problem now, we risk driving an entire generation of Texans from the halls of our public universities."
According to the release, in 2003, the Texas Legislature surrendered its ability to approve tuition increases at public universities, instead allowing the Boards of Regents to set tuition rates free from legislative oversight.
Since that time, tuition and fees at Texas public universities have more than doubled, and designated tuition (the portion of tuition set directly by the universities) has increased by 256 percent. These increases have far outpaced the 29 percent inflationary growth over the same time frame.
"Texas needs an educated workforce with the skills to compete in the modern economy," Schwertner said. "Unfortunately, we now see the cost of higher education growing more rapidly than health care, housing or almost anything else. As a Legislature, I think it's time to ask some tough questions and decide whether or not it's acceptable for our students to pay twice as much for an undergraduate education as they did a decade ago."
According to the release, Senate Bill 250, also known as the Higher Education Accountability Restoration (HEAR) Act, would require public universities to seek legislative approval for tuition or fee increases that exceed the rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
Schwertner hopes the legislation will force universities to be more accountable for controlling costs, justify new spending priorities, return a measure of oversight to the Legislature, and give average Texans a voice in the tuition-setting process.
"Prioritizing spending and living within a budget isn't necessarily easy, but most people don't have the option of simply demanding more money year after year," Schwertner said. "The state of Texas has to live within its means just like Texas families do … I really don't think it's unreasonable to ask our state universities to do the same."
In 2015, Schwertner filed a nearly identical proposal, known as Senate Bill 233.
As part of that effort, Schwertner launched this website, which invites visitors to sign a petition in support of the legislation and share their stories about how rising tuition costs have affected their lives.
Schwertner also wrote two separate editorials examining the long-term impact of escalating college tuition and student debt, the release said.
According to the release, despite strong support from fellow legislators and student groups like the Young Conservatives of Texas, SB 233 faced substantial opposition from public universities and was never called for a vote in the Senate Committee on Higher Education.
Schwertner currently serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. Schwertner is serving his second term as the senator for Senate District 5, a 10-county region of central and east Texas.