It’s mid-March: the time college applicants await emails and portal notifications from universities that will determine their future in higher education. Most high school students will have their answer by early April, but some decisions can take until May 1 – the national deadline to submit enrollment deposits.

As many students weigh their future, data show that only 47% of Texas high school graduates will go to college directly from high school, a percentage that has remained relatively flat in the past three years.

Texas’ college-going rate is lower than the national average. Across the country, 61% of high school graduates enroll in college. U.S. News & World Reports ranks Texas as the 20th best state for higher education but ranks it among the bottom 20 states for four-year college graduation rate.

About half of Texas high school students don’t go to college and the state doesn’t provide data about where those students go after high school. Of those who do go to college in Texas, only 1 in 3 will finish with a certificate or degree within six years, advocacy group Texas 2036 estimates.

By 2031, more than 70% of jobs will require post secondary education – creating a gap of 250,000 young Texans lacking requirements to access those jobs each year, Texas 2036 estimates.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which oversees state higher education policy, set an ambitious goal in 2015 to ensure 60% of 24- to 34-year-old Texans have a post-high school credential by 2030.

Since then, the state has expanded its goal, aiming for 60% of working age Texans, or those ages 25 to 64, to be credentialed. In total, the goal is for state higher education institutions to produce 550,000 credentials a year.

As the 2030 deadline approaches, the state is producing a record number of graduates each year but is still 170,000 annual awards away from meeting its goal. The percentage of working age Texans is also behind on its credential goal. As of 2023, the year with the most recent data, 53% of the group had credentials of value, or post-secondary achievements that give students a positive return on investments.

With an eye on affordability and access, higher education board has worked to make it easier for Texans to enroll in and complete college, including by offering free application week last October; increasing knowledge about workforce pathways in K-12 education; securing more financial aid funding from the state legislature last year; and revolutionizing community college funding in 2023 to push colleges to focus on student completion, over enrollment.

Austin Community College, which accepts applications year round and has an open-door admissions policy, is offering in-district high school seniors free tuition. The community college is also investing in its student services and supports for basic needs to ensure 70% of its students complete a credential or transfer successfully to another institution.

The UT System has promised to cover tuition for Texans from families with a combined household income of $100,000 or less. The coordinating board successfully met its 2030 goals for student debt, with 95% of students having “manageable” or no debt after graduation.

REWIND: What does Texas consider ‘manageable’ student loan debt?

The Austin community college system has partnered with the city and local nonprofits to boost skills training opportunities for Austinites. For instance, the Infrastructure Academy, a public-private partnership between the city, Workforce Solutions Capital Development, and ACC, provides job training for the infrastructure and mobility sector as Austin embarks on major construction projects. 
 
ACC also opened a new skills trade center in Lockhart centered around fast upskilling opportunities to address low higher education attainment in the city. Lockhart Independent School District voted to join ACC’s taxing district in 2024 to make educational attainment easier for its residents.

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