Classrooms are full at Del Mar College ever since a tuition-waiver experiment made college free for eligible students — so full that the college would like to hire more faculty.
But as college leaders work to complete next year’s budget this summer, they have to reckon with unfulfilled funding promises from the state. Growth will have to wait.
Since 2023, Texas has tied dollars to student outcomes for community colleges. But because schools have surpassed forecasts for student success, the state isn’t able to provide every dollar the community colleges earned.
This amounts to a $3.5 million hit to Del Mar College alone.
In 2023, community colleges were promised a dynamic, performance-based funding model, whereby institutions earned state dollars
with graduations, transfers and completions. Previously, community college funding was based primarily on enrollment, with only a small piece related to performance.
“We would have to be focused on not just getting people into seats, but getting them through the curriculum and completed,” Del Mar College President Mark Escamilla said, recalling how the shift in the funding model changed how community colleges were rewarded.
The state also created a new program for funding dual credit courses for low-income students. Together, the shift to performance-based funding and the influx of dollars for dual credit programs have transformed Del Mar College.
Though the state’s Financial Aid for Swift Transfer program is designed for economically disadvantaged students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Del Mar College went a step further to offer no-cost dual credit courses for all students at participating high schools across the region.
Last year, the college launched its Freedom to Dream program, which waives tuition costs for eligible students who commit to a full-time course load. The pilot program will enter its second year this fall, welcoming a new cohort of students.
Historically, many of the college’s students have studied part time. But the college expects students will persist at higher rates and complete their programs sooner by studying full time. When they finish, state dollars will flow to the college.
Del Mar College celebrated its largest graduating class this past spring. In July, nonpartisan think tank Texas 2036 released a report finding that there has been a 22.3% increase in credential attainments at Texas community colleges since 2023.
“They had no idea that community colleges would blow the roof off,” Escamilla said.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s forecasts for what community college outcomes would look like, and therefore how much money the state would need to fund the colleges, fell short.
“They missed the mark,” Escamilla said. “That’s how we were shortchanged. It was just an unfortunate miscalculation on the forecasting.”
State leaders told the colleges to prepare for a “shave,” Escamilla said.
As Del Mar College began preparing the budget, staff braced for the cuts.
“I thought we were going to probably take an about $1.5 million reduction of appropriations,” Escamilla said. “It turned out to be $3.5 million.”
For the past several years, Gov. Greg Abbott has asked Texas colleges and universities to refrain from increasing tuition. Del Mar College won’t be raising tuition or the property tax rate this year.
Escamilla hopes that state lawmakers will agree to pay at least some of the missing dollars during the upcoming Texas legislative session.
But the regents will have to approve the 2026-27 budget before they know if or when that money will be coming.
Del Mar College is set to adopt the budget and tax rate on Aug. 25, after public hearings on Aug. 11.
The college will be able to sustain its programs, Escamilla said. No instruction will be cut.
But plans for growth will have to be shelved.
Students are taking more classes than ever before, he said, due to Freedom to Dream tuition waiver participants taking on full-time schedules. If the college was receiving full state funding, it likely would have hired more faculty and invested in improving the classroom experience for students and faculty.
“This is the money that we’ve been working for for years to try to get ahead with,” Escamilla said. “We’re not going to get ahead. We’re recommending a flat budget. ... We’re just going to keep our powder dry for this year.”
Escamilla serves on a standing advisory board for the Texas commissioner of higher education. From his conversations with state leaders, he believes Texas remains committed to a dynamic community college funding model. He believes the delegation of lawmakers from the Coastal Bend is also supportive.
House Bill 8, the legislation that redesigned community college funding, was powerful, Escamilla said. He helped create it as Abbott’s appointee to the Commission on Community College Finance, where he served with Del Mar College Board of Regents Chair Carol Scott.
“It just has to be realized,” Escamilla said.
Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia.garrett@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Texas falls short on funding promises to Del Mar College
