Note: the following post is an executive summary to a 14 page comprehensive analysis of the Houston Community College’s international student program. Reader Judson Bryant uncovers a huge subsidy to that program by local and state tax dollars. He asks the question: how much should HCC spend on international students given the mandate under which HCC is supposed to operate and the alternative uses of the local and state tax funds that HCC is using to subsidize the program? View his complete report by clicking here or in the viewer below.

HoustonCommunity College

International Students and International Initiatives

Executive Summary

The Texas Education Code states “PUBLIC JUNIOR COLLLEGES: ROLE AND MISSION. Texas public junior colleges shall be two-year institutions primarily serving their taxing districts and service areas in Texas and offering vocational, technical, and academic courses for certification or associate degrees”. The terms “junior college” and “community college” are used interchangeably.

According to two 2011 reports published by Houston Community College (HCC), between 5,919 and 8,157 international students were enrolled at the college. This range in the number of students is used because HCC has published no information that reconcile these differing census numbers[i]. International students are required to take a full schedule of courses-30 semester hours/year.

Houston Community Colleges operations are financed by  a combination of tuition, grants, sales of services, and various taxes. State appropriations and local ad valorem taxes cover over 50{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of HCC’s  operating expenses. These resources also cover the costs associated with the education of international students that are not covered  by tuition payments. In 2011 state and local tax funds paid between $17,610,000 and $26,977,000 to subsidize the education of these students.  This range in subsidized costs is derived using the published range in student census as noted above.

HCC provides valued education services to the Houston community, and this community is significantly influenced by international cultural and business activity. It is reasonable to assume that a local institution of higher education would expend some of its resources on international activities and initiatives. The question becomes one of how much to spend given the mandate under which HCC is supposed to operate and the alternative uses of tax funds.

HCC’s taxing district overlaps several other taxing entities. These other taxing entities are facing budget challenge ranging from pensions through road repair to storm drainage.  In this budget environment is it good public policy to expend tens of million of dollars on educating students from 155 countries? This report concludes that this expenditure is not proportionate and consistent with the mission of  a community college. The author proposes that HCC should be spending no more than 1{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of its budget on international activities ($4,000,000). This expenditure would support an active, yet moderate, international educational environment at HCC that would offer local students an expanded learning environment. Such an expanded learning environment would be consistent with HCC’s statutory mandate. If this budget recommendation were adopted, alternative applications of tax funds could be explored, not the least of which is returning millions of dollars to tax payers.

Judson Bryant
281-558-1454
[email protected]
houstonpublicpolicy.org                  
Houston, Texas