2008 Woodie Awards
Higher education key to 'closing the gaps,' Coordinating Board commissioner says
By Rennie Murrell
Last update: 5/17/06 at 8:20 AM CST
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An important goal of higher education in Texas is the need to prepare, enroll and graduate more minority students, a commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Board said March 22.
Dr. Raymund A. Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and former vice president for programs at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, delivered the "Status Report on Closing the Gaps" to an audience of about 100 people, mostly faculty, in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center.
"Closing the Gaps" is an initiative of the Coordinating Board to increase the numbers of college students and graduates, particularly among minority groups, by 2015.
There are four components to closing the gaps, Paredes said.
The first component is research facilities in higher education institutions, whether public or private, such as nanotechnology, biomedical research or basic research for medical and health issues, Paredes said.
Texas has many excellent institutions, whether two- or four-year schools, but the quality of institutions is not the best Texas can have, he said.
These types of research facilities in San Antonio and other cities in Texas are critical to economic prosperity and are the engines of economic development, Paredes said.
"We need to improve the qualities of research facilities in our largest metropolitan areas and develop those across the board," he said.
The second component to closing the gaps is improving the quality of colleges and universities in Texas for academic success, Paredes said.
Institutions need to increase the number of students attending, but more important is increasing by 50 percent the number of degrees, certificates and other indicators of student success, which will dramatically increase the economic development and quality of life issues in Texas, he said.
Developmental or remedial education is the third component to the success of this initiative, Paredes said.
Paredes said many students entering college need developmental or remedial education, refresher courses to prepare them for the rigorous challenges of college curriculum.
One of the goals set for 2008 is to coordinate informational, motivational and academic programs in Texas to prepare students for college and make college-preparatory courses the standard curriculum in Texas public high schools and the minimum prerequisite for admission to Texas public colleges and universities, Paredes said.
"If we admit students, than we should do everything possible to provide the students with every opportunity in education," he said.
The fourth component to the initiative's success is participation, Paredes said.
According to the Coordinating Board, the total college enrollment in Texas is about 990,000 in 2005-06.
Only 5 percent of the Texas population was enrolled in higher education in recent years, compared to a national average of 5.4 percent, Paredes said. That 0.4 percent difference represents about 76,000 students.
Texas would have to immediately enroll 200,000 students to match California's current participation rate of 6 percent and enroll about 600,000 additional students in public and private institutions to raise Texas' participation rate to 5.7 percent by 2015, Paredes said.
He believes if Texas succeeds in closing the gaps of college participation, 1.6 million students will be enrolled in college by 2015, and a significant portion of them will be from low-income families, he said.
"Making the commitment to closing the gaps now will ensure that future generations will not have to bear the consequences," Paredes said.
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