Texas House Higher Education Committee to Examine Enrollment, New Laws and Student Advising

The Texas House Committee on Higher Education will gavel in at 9 a.m. Aug. 17 to take invited and public testimony on three interim charges covering the overall state of higher education in Texas, the rollout of three laws passed last session and the state’s patchwork of college and career advising programs.

Under the ground rules in the hearing notice, public testimony begins only after invited testimony concludes on all charges, and its length is subject to the chair’s discretion; written comments can be submitted online until adjournment through the House comment portal.

Chaired by Rep. Terry M. Wilson, R–Georgetown, the 11-member committee — six Republicans and five Democrats, with Rep. Donna Howard, D–Austin, as vice chair — meets in Room E2.036 of the Capitol Extension. The panel’s jurisdiction covers the state’s public universities, community colleges and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Monday’s session is the committee’s chance to build a record before members draft recommendations for the legislature that convenes in January 2027.

The broadest charge, “State of Higher Education,” directs members to examine enrollment trends, workforce demands and postsecondary outcomes, along with progress toward the coordinating board’s Building a Talent Strong Texas strategic plan and indicators of institutional competitiveness — completion rates, faculty recruitment and retention, and research classification trends compared with other states.

The committee will hear that testimony against a favorable backdrop: the coordinating board reported in October that fall 2025 enrollment at Texas colleges and universities reached a record of roughly 1.6 million students, up 4.7 percent from fall 2024, with every sector surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

A second charge takes up implementation and rulemaking for three bills the committee handled last session. Senate Bill 1786, a broad measure relating to public higher education, leads the list.

Senate Bill 2231 requires the coordinating board to waive fees for admission applications submitted to public institutions during certain periods, and Senate Bill 2314 creates My Texas Future, an electronic platform and submission portal designed to help public high school students learn about and apply to colleges through a common admission application. Members will probe whether agency rulemaking matches what lawmakers intended.

The final charge, “Aligning Advising Initiatives,” asks the committee to examine the state’s investments in advising systems and tools that support high school and college course planning, credential attainment and transitions into the workforce.

The charge directs members to evaluate partnership-based models that use labor market research aligned to high-wage, high-demand careers, and to assess how the Tri-Agency partnership of the state’s education and workforce agencies could better align resources to expand advising capacity and improve student outcomes, according to the notice.

Because this is an interim hearing, the committee will take no votes on legislation. Its findings will shape the interim report and the bills members carry into the 90th Legislature next year.

Meeting at a glance

Committee members

• Rep. Terry M. Wilson, R–Georgetown (HD-20) — Chair
• Rep. Donna Howard, D–Austin (HD-48) — Vice Chair
• Rep. Aicha M. Davis, D–Dallas (HD-109)
• Rep. Suleman Lalani, D–Sugar Land (HD-76)
• Rep. Stan Lambert, R–Abilene (HD-71)
• Rep. Vincent M. Perez, D–El Paso (HD-77)
• Rep. Matt Shaheen, R–Plano (HD-66)
• Rep. Joanne W. Shofner, R–Nacogdoches (HD-11)
• Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R–Arlington (HD-94)
• Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R–New Boston (HD-1)
• Rep. Charlene Ward Johnson, D–Houston (HD-139)