During the 80th session of the Texas Legislature, the Dallas County Community College District urged legislators to champion community colleges and students by supporting three key priorities: base funding, incentive funding and affordability.
In 2009, partnering with the Texas Association of Community Colleges, DCCCD supports the goals of TACC for the 81st session of the Texas Legislature, as well as key priorities for the district itself.
Underlying each statewide priority for the session in 2009 is sufficient funding in several key areas:
DCCCD’s districtwide priorities during the 81st session focus on:
- dual credit;
- college readiness funding;
- nursing education funding models;
- the Community College Purchasing Bill;
- the “Six Drop Rule.”
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The Dallas County Community College District has more than 90,000 reasons each semester that show why community colleges must be a legislative priority: students. In fall 2008, DCCCD enrolled more than 64,000 credit and 27,000 continuing education students.
Those freshmen and sophomore enrollments make DCCCD the largest undergraduate institution in Texas. Our students believe that this district can help them build a brighter future for themselves, their families and their communities. We, in turn, are proud of their success and our contributions to the state’s economic vitality and workforce education needs.
Community colleges represent the largest sector of higher education in Texas, enrolling more than 75 percent of the state’s freshmen and sophomores — and more than 75 percent of all minority freshmen and sophomores, too, which reflects the ethnic diversity we see every day across the state. Serving as a gateway, community colleges provide access to higher education for people from every walk of life and from every community in Texas. We are the key to success in achieving the state’s goals for Closing the Gaps, and DCCCD — plus TACC’s other 49 member institutions/districts — attracts those students who are needed in the state’s higher education system.
With this fact in mind, DCCCD and other two-year institutions in Texas believe that the focus on community colleges and the contributions they make to individual success, community needs and economic growth is earned and must be funded. It is time, during the 81st session of the Texas Legislature (and as the nation faces broad economic challenges), to provide sufficient money and resources that all community colleges need to educate students, provide workforce training, offer employment stability and fund necessary levels of financial aid for students.
See our legislative agenda/priorities for the 81st session of the Texas legislature (PDF - 137KB).
For more information, contact Justin Lonon, vice chancellor for public and governmental affairs, at 214-378-1824 or justin.lonon@dcccd.edu.