Rising tuition costs have changed the landscape of postsecondary education in the Greater Houston area as increasing numbers of students seek more affordable options, including community college and dual-credit programs focused on majors marketable to the region’s dominant industries.

From 2011 to 2015, tuition increased at a rapid rate at several four-year universities frequently attended by Cy-Fair ISD graduates, including a 22 percent increase per semester at the University of Houston and a 42 percent rise at Sam Houston State University. The college tuition spike seen statewide also led Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to declare limiting tuition growth a priority for the Texas Senate Higher Education Committee in the 2017 legislative session.

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“Next session, the Senate will look closely at a number of cost reforms, including performance-based funding, which brings increased accountability and affordability back by requiring education institutions to meet high performance targets before increasing tuition above inflation,” Patrick said at a press conference in April.

Although tuition costs have increased by hundreds of dollars per semester at many four-year universities statewide in the past five years, the cost of a 12-credit semester at the Lone Star College System has risen only by 7 percent, from $704 to $752, over that time.

LSCS, the two-year community college system serving the northern Greater Houston area, is the first stop for many high school graduates. Across  CFISD’s 11 high schools, 19.8 percent of students who graduated in spring 2014 enrolled in LSCS in fall 2014, according to a study conducted by the college in 2015.

School districts, including CFISD, are also offering more higher education opportunities. Since Texas Senate Bill 1004 was signed into state law in 2015, removing limits on the number of dual-credit college courses that a Texas high school student can earn, CFISD has seen its dual-credit enrollment rise.

Two-year college growth

Amos McDonald, vice chancellor of government and public relations at LSCS, said enrollment at the college has increased from about 45,000 in 2005 to more than 82,000 in 2014.

Although part of that growth can be attributed to an overall population boom—Harris County has added more than 1 million residents since the 2000 census—McDonald said the economy is also a factor.

“Debt is a critical reason why a lot of students start with us, but you have a ton of students who are transferring from us to four-year colleges,” McDonald said.

This allows students to reduce their overall cost for a four-year college education, McDonald said. Two years at a Lone Star College campus would cost about $3,000 in tuition, while four years at a public university in Texas would average about $33,000, McDonald said.

“If you do two years here and two years there, it’s a savings of $13,500,” McDonald said.

Enrollment at community colleges tends to be countercyclical—it rises as the economy worsens and falls as the economy improves, said Matthew Fuller, assistant professor of educational leadership and counseling at Sam Houston State University.

He said this is a boon for community colleges because they are less expensive and lead to credentials more quickly than four-year colleges.

In 2000, when national unemployment was less than 8 percent, fall enrollment at community colleges was around 3 million nationally, according to the American Association for Community Colleges. In 2010, when unemployment grew to more than 10 percent, community college enrollment rose to about 7 million nationally.

“Many students found themselves without a job [and]  decided to go back to school to diversify their possibilities,” Fuller said. “The old narrative of going straight into college full-time right after high school has changed just a little.”

Overall, enrollment growth at two-year and four-year institutions between 2005 and 2014 has grown steadily, with two-year colleges growing 26.5 percent during that time and four-year universities growing by 24.6 percent.

Jeff Fuller, director of student recruitment at the University of Houston, said the cost of tuition did not seem to be a deterrent to enrollment at the university.

“It’s not something we’re concerned about,” Jeff Fuller said. “Our applications are up, both incoming and transfer, and we’ve been in that pattern for a number of years.”

Students transferring from community college form about half of new student enrollment at UH, he said.

Dual-credit courses

Dual-credit programs in Texas offer an opportunity for students to earn college credit before graduating from high school, preparing them for higher education while potentially cutting the costs they might face in the future.

At CFISD, Superintendent Mark Henry said dual-credit programs are seen as a way for students to save time and money when they move on to postsecondary education as well as a way for students interested in workforce programs to get a head start on earning certificates and licenses.

The number of dual-credit hours logged by CFISD students nearly doubled between the 2010-11 and 2014-15 school years, increasing from 12,429 to 22,282 students. 

When SB 1004 was enacted, the results were immediate for CFISD. A total of 7,733 students enrolled in dual-credit courses in the 2015-16 school year, up from 6,847 in the previous year, officials said.

Although SB 1004 only applies to Harris County, Texas state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who authored the bill, said he would like to see it expanded statewide.

“It is time for Texans to think outside the box and use 21st century tools to provide more choices and methods to help lower educational costs and long-term student debt,” he said.

Kathy Guerra, who graduated from Cypress Creek High School in June 2016, took advantage of the expanded dual-credit opportunities. Guerra took five dual-credit courses over the past two years, which will allow her to start classes at the University of Texas at Dallas this fall with 16 credit hours under her belt.

“Not only does it save me time, but it saves my parents a lot of money,” Guerra said. “I can see the advantages that these programs have, not just for me, but for all the students who get involved.”

STEM skills

Health care, the oil and gas industry and information technology—all science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields—are key areas for post-college employment in the Greater Houston area, McDonald said.

According to an AACC report, the number of students graduating from community colleges with degrees in science and engineering has increased nationwide by 120 percent from 2000-12.

LSC-University Park broke ground in May on a new Center for Science and Innovation. The three-story, 50,000-square-foot building with 12 science labs, an astronomy observation deck and other facilities for STEM students, according to a college press release. The planned opening date for the $15.4 million project is in fall 2017.

LSC-UP President Shah Ardalan said the campus added three full-time math and five science faculty members in 2015 but continues to need adjunct faculty each semester to meet demand.

Bond projects are also moving forward at the LSC-CyFair campus. The system purchased a building in the Beltway 8 Corporate Center Business Park—located at 5060 Westway Park Blvd.—for a new advanced technology center for students in the computer information technology and visual communication program.

The initial build-out process will provide 50,000 square feet of space. Classrooms will be designed to recreate workplace environments and will be ready by late spring 2017, officials said.

Technical schools provide another option for students, said Darrin Brust, president of Universal Technical Institute’s Houston campus. Automotive technician programs at UTI cost between $28,000 and $32,5000. The mean wage for an automotive technician in Texas was $41,440 in 2015, Brust said.

“They can walk right into a middle-class salary and make a good living,” he said.