Dateline: March 10, 2005

Texas reaps billions from higher education

AUSTIN – Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said last week that every dollar invested in Texas’ higher education system returns $5.50 to the Texas economy, fueling the state’s economic engine with $33.2 billion per year.

“This is a remarkable return, even for a high stakes technology startup. But when it comes to the Texas higher education system, the stakes are much higher. We are investing in our most important venture-the future of young Texans,” Strayhorn said.

In an update of her 2003 special report, The Impact of the State Higher Education System on the Texas Economy, Strayhorn estimates that spending and re-spending of out-of-state student, research and health care dollars adds $10.1 billion per year to the state’s economic output. The higher earnings and productivity of a better-educated workforce eventually increases state economic capacity by another $23.1 billion per year.

Education plays a vital economic role, but Strayhorn said state higher education funding is losing ground to other state services. After adjusting for inflation, spending on public safety and corrections increased 223 percent in the last 15 years, while real higher education expenditures grew only 44 percent during the same period.

“I want Texas to have the most educated workforce in the nation,” Strayhorn said. “I will continue to fight for legislative approval until my TexasNextStep proposal is adopted and K-through-14 education is the norm in Texas.”

“I would rather spend $2,500 a year educating a young Texan than $16,000 a year incarcerating that young Texan,” Strayhorn said.

TexasNextStep would make higher education more affordable and accessible to more Texans, raise the skill level of the Texas workforce, and set Texas apart in the competition for jobs,” Strayhorn said.

TexasNextStep would pay for tuition, fees, and books for Texas high school graduates to attend community colleges, technical colleges, or other two-year institutions.