Testimony of Dr. Shirley Reed
President, South Texas Community College
McAllen, Texas

As the founding President of South Texas Community College, I welcome the opportunity to share with you the challenges and needs before South Texas Community College as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

South Texas Community College (STCC) was created on September 1, 1993, by Texas Senate Bill 251 to serve Hidalgo and Starr counties, which are located in deep South Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border region. It is the only community college in Texas to have been legislatively established because of the compelling need for a comprehensive community college to serve the over 600,000 residents of the region, with over ninety-six percent (96%) being Hispanic and who previously did not have access to such an institution.

STCC began as an institution with 10 certificate programs and less than 1,000 students. An enrollment of 1,000 students in 1993 has increased to over 15,000 in Fall 2003 with 81 degree and certificate program options available to its students.

South Texas Community College serves the over 623,000 residents of its districts, with over ninety-six percent (96%) of the population being Hispanic and a student population who are 96% Hispanic, which parallels the ethnic distribution of the counties served by the College.

South Texas Community College’s two-county district of Hidalgo and Starr counties had unemployment rates of 24.1% and 40.3%, respectively, in 1993. Since the creation of STCC, unemployment has dropped significantly to 12.7% and 21.7% in Hidalgo and Starr counties. The future employment market related to industrial growth in McAllen/Reynosa will be dependent upon the ability of STCC to develop a highly skilled workforce that is specifically trained to meet the needs of businesses and industries relocating to deep South Texas.

STCC has become a model throughout the state for providing access to higher education to Hispanic students who have had limited opportunities to pursue higher education. These are achieving and successful Hispanic students as measured by job placement, graduation rate, transfer success and employer satisfaction.

South Texas Community College is strategically located on one of the world's most dynamic borders dividing an industrial power and a developing one. The local, predominantly Hispanic, workforce is being faced with many challenges as well as opportunities. The local workforce simply has not had the opportunity to develop the skill levels necessary to assume the new employment opportunities readily becoming available in the community. South Texas Community College is the primary provider of workforce development for deep South Texas and must address the challenge of preparing the Hispanic workforce for an economically competitive deep South Texas, state of Texas as well as the United States.

By way of background information, the Texas Higher Education report: Closing the Gaps by 2015, the strategic plan prepared by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, has recognized the need to expand access to an additional 500,000 new higher education students by 2015 and to increase the degree completion rate by fifty percent (50%). Of these students, 60% or 300,000 will be attending community colleges and 50% or 150,000 of these new students will be Hispanic. Hispanic enrollment in the state of Texas increased by over 40,000 students since 2002, according to a report released by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Most of the state’s increase in Hispanic enrollment came from South Texas, along the Mexican border and around the Houston area. Two-year colleges, including South Texas Community College, were responsible for 58% of the increase in Hispanic student enrollment.

The Texas Higher Education report Closing the Gaps by 2015 states:

The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education, prepared by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, has reported the performance gaps in the Texas higher education system. These gaps include the following:

This same report put the higher education performance gaps in financial perspective and stated, "If all ethnic groups in Texas had the same educational attainment and earnings as white non- Hispanics, total personal income in the state would be $44 billion higher, and the state would realize an estimated $16 billion in additional tax revenues." Increased opportunities must be provided for Hispanic students to achieve the same educational attainment level as white non-Hispanic students.

The Texas Workforce Commission has projected a 17.6% job growth rate over the next ten years for the state of Texas and a 16.6% job growth rate for this region of deep South Texas. Unless new initiatives are implemented to prepare the competitive workforce, the job growth rate will not be achieved, opportunities will be lost and there will be a long-term social and economic price to be paid. In order for the region of deep South Texas to close the substantial economic and educational gaps, significant workforce development investments must be made to prepare the Hispanic workforce and to build the workforce training infrastructure that will be necessary to continue attracting industry to the region.

The Texas Border Infrastructure Coalition reported in its Legislative Recommendations for the 78^th Legislative session of the Texas Legislature, "Less than thirteen percent (13%) of the two million border residents have a college degree." This disturbing statistic depicting the low educational attainment levels of deep South Texas has kept the region from preparing the competitive workforce necessary to attract new business and industries to deep South Texas and that provide "living wages" for their employees.

The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, March 2003 edition, contained a telling article, "Baccalaureate Access through Two-Year Colleges," which addressed the disparities affecting Hispanics. Thirty percent (30%) of white non-Hispanic adults have attained the baccalaureate degree by the age of 24, while only seven percent (7%) of Hispanics have done so. The biggest single reason cited for the difference in the baccalaureate degree completion rate is that the majority of minority students who attend post-secondary education initially enroll in public community colleges and do not transfer to complete the baccalaureate degree. For the citizens of deep South Texas, there is much more than the digital divide, the place between having access to computers and being shut out of cyberspace. The people of deep South Texas have experienced a great degree divide, a lack of access to a community college education and a baccalaureate degree for Hispanics who are seeking preparation in specific workplace skills and professional preparation.

The Rio Grande Valley, along the U.S.-Mexico border, is key to making Texas competitive in a global economy and companies are relocating to deep South Texas on an ongoing basis; however, they are recruiting professionals from other parts of the country to take these new jobs. The Hispanic potential workforce from deep South Texas has the talent and initiative to excel in these new job opportunities; however, they lack the diploma and adequate workforce preparation. Access to a college degree would ensure them not only a valued employment opportunity but also a complete change in their lives impacting generations to come. The increased and new employment opportunities in deep South Texas are now requiring high skill technical workers with certified skills at the community college and four year baccalaureate degree level. Hispanic Serving Institutions are the front line institutions that must respond to this need.

There is a strong connection between workforce development and economic development in the counties STCC serves. Business and industry function as an economic engine by providing employment opportunities for the community and by investing in a region that has been previously underserved. South Texas has been slowly transforming from an agricultural area to an area driven by agribusiness and has been experiencing an increase in the business sector and an increase in the number of industrial plants which relocate to the area on a monthly basis. These new trends continue to create opportunities for STCC graduates, challenges for the business and industry sector, and many direct and indirect benefits to the community.

Preparing Hispanic students to be competitive in the workforce offers profound economic and social benefits to the region. This is affirmed by the key role STCC has played in decreasing the unemployment level in deep South Texas by almost fifty percent (50%) and it has been achieved by working collaboratively with the Economic Development Corporations in the area to serve the needs of the communities within the STCC service area.

Community colleges currently comprise 53% of all HSIs. Community colleges also enroll 62% of all the Hispanic students in American higher education while only enrolling about 44% of all the students. In the fall of 2001, community colleges had Hispanic student enrollments of over 11 million students, including both credit and non-credit students.

As the nation’s youngest and largest ethnic population, Hispanic Americans will have a dramatic impact on this nation’s economic success and security. Hispanics are the backbone of the American workforce. They currently account for one of every three new workers and are projected to provide one of every two by 2025. Much greater investment in Hispanic higher education is required to supply the number and quality of highly skilled workers demanded by our high technology and knowledge-driven economy. Yet, the country’s more than 200 HSIs, which serve the most undereducated and underserved racial/ethnic population in America, continue to receive half the federal funding per student on average compared to all other degree-granting institutions. This inequity will prove catastrophic in the coming years, especially with an expected 50 percent increase in the number of HSIs within the next two decades.

Concerns:

HSI colleges and universities are opposed to a proposal to create a new category of "for-profit" Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). This is a proposal that would immediately dilute already inadequate Title V federal funding for HSIs by dramatically increasing the numbers of HSIs with a new category of institutions not required to meet the same accountability or accreditation standards as institutions currently meeting the HSI definition.

The existing funding inequity exacerbates the funding crisis by asking an even larger number of institutions to compete for the same, already inadequate pool of Title V funds. The number of "for-profit" institutions that would become eligible to be HSIs under the bill’s current "for-profit" component would immediately increase by 107 or more, which is an increase of approximately 33%.

While H.R. 3039 (the "Expanding Opportunities in Higher Education Act of 2003") reauthorizes the HSIs programs, community colleges have two concerns.

Recommendations to Strengthen and Enhance Programs Designed to Meet the Unique Challenges and Needs of Hispanic Students Through the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA):

          1. Authorize substantial new federal funding to historically under-funded Hispanic-   
Serving Institutions (HSIs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions to better address the digital and college degree divide between Hispanic students and other students in higher education. 

        2. Authorize $50 million under title II for eligible HSIs to expand teacher education programs of high quality in academic areas of urgent national need.

         3. Increase the authorized funding level for HSIs under title V to $465 million to meet the needs of under funded HSIs and new HSIs emerging within the next five years.

         4. Authorize $125 million for a new Part B under title V for increased and improved graduate education at HSIs and support programs to recruit more Hispanic students to enroll in graduate programs so that community colleges can recruit these individuals as faculty to serve as role models and mentors for Hispanic students.

         5. Authorize a program for faculty who have student loans to be "encouraged" to teach in HSIs with a percentage of the student loan forgiven for each year they teach at a HSI.

         6. Authorize $50 million for a Technology Enhancement Program that would close the "digital divide" at HSIs.  The need for substantial new technology funding is especially critical for HSIs, which serve the country's youngest and largest ethnic population with the least access to technology.

         7. Provide funding for increased professional development to better prepare faculty and staff to participate in strategies and initiatives to directly improve the teaching effectiveness of faculty serving the needs of Hispanic students.  The curriculum alignment and students' readiness to perform college-level work must be improved if Hispanic students are to achieve the college completion rates of other student groups.

        8. Provide funding for increased linkages to the public schools in order to develop stronger ties between HSIs and public schools.  Outreach efforts are needed to support the needs of first generation college students, to encourage Hispanic students to pursue higher education, and to smooth the transition from secondary to higher education.

          9. Provide funds to support Developmental Studies programs to help the almost 50% of Hispanic students who are not ready for college develop the basic academic skills necessary to be successful in college.  Many students in HSIs are first-generation college students; many are under-prepared and need supportive services to help them be successful. 

On behalf of the 15,284 Hispanic students served by South Texas Community College, I thank you for the opportunity to present the challenges before and the needs of our Hispanic student population. Let me restate a quote included in my testimony:

"If all ethnic groups in Texas had the same educational attainment and earnings as white non- Hispanics, total personal income in the state would be $44 billion higher, and the state would realize an estimated $16 billion in additional tax revenues."

I urge you to put an end to the inequity in funding of programs, services, and access to higher education to the millions of very talented and most deserving Hispanic students who rightfully deserve the opportunities available to others in the United States.

Thank you.