The nine regents who run the Texas State Technical College system meet Aug. 27 in Waco to set tuition and fee rates for the fall of 2027 — more than a year out — and to adopt the system’s operating budget for the year that begins Sept. 1.
Both votes sit on a consent agenda, which means the board can approve the whole slate in a single motion without discussing any one item. The rates themselves are not in the posted notice, and the Dispatch could not confirm from that notice whether they change from the current schedule. The regents are also asked to approve the list of exemptions and waivers that lets veterans, some high school students and others pay less than the posted price.
Texas pays for this college unlike any other in the country. Rather than funding it by head count, the state estimates how much more its graduates earn because of the credential and returns a share of that gain to the system — a formula built on graduate wages that supplies essentially all of the money for teaching and administration. The budget the regents adopt is, in effect, a bet on what the welding, nursing and diesel programs will be worth in paychecks.
One item is not bookkeeping. The regents must certify to the Legislature and the state’s higher education board that the system complied over the past year with the 2023 law banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public colleges. That law bars a college from spending its appropriation at all until its governing board files the certification, which is why the item lands days before the fiscal year turns over.
The board also takes up the first capital projects of the new year, including pre-construction work and service contracts above $1 million, and accepts a state-funded construction project on the Waco campus. Texas voters approved an $850 million endowment for the system in November 2025, earmarked for buildings, equipment and expansion; the notice does not say whether these projects draw on it. The system does not stream its meetings; the regents publish a board book beforehand and minutes afterward, and they meet next Nov. 12 in Harlingen.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 10:30 a.m. CT Thursday, August 27, 2026, for the full board. Committee and closed sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. The notice was filed August 23 at 1:14 p.m.
- Where
- Texas State Technical College, 1651 E. Crest Drive, Waco. The audit committee met August 26.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas State Technical College System Board of Regents — nine members appointed by the governor to six-year terms. Ron Widup is chairman; Robb Misso is vice chairman.
- Format
- Meeting of the Whole. Public comment is taken near the top, followed by committee reports and a consent agenda the board may adopt in one motion. Closed session is held in the morning; action is taken in the open.
- Live video
- No public livestream. The system posts a full board book in advance and minutes afterward.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · board of regents page
Board members
- Ron Widup — chairman; Arlington; electrical testing executive and TSTC graduate.
- Robb Misso — vice chairman; Cedar Park; manufacturing executive.
- Tiffany Tremont — New Braunfels; cybersecurity company president; past chair.
- Lizzy de la Garza Putegnat — Harlingen; Rio Grande Valley businesswoman.
- Curtis Cleveland — Waco; businessman.
- Kathy Stewart — San Angelo; retired hospital nursing director.
- Ron Rohrbacher — League City; residential construction consultant.
- Eric Beckman — Frisco; term runs to 2029.
- Frank Denton — Conroe; investment company owner; newest regent.
Roster from the system’s own board of regents page, updated August 24, 2026, cross-checked against the governor’s appointment releases — Denton appointed and Stewart and Widup reappointed April 9, 2026 and Rohrbacher appointed in 2023. Mike Reeser has been chancellor since November 2010. Meeting contact: Gus Rivera, Gus.Rivera@tstc.edu.