Contemplated legislative cut to state financial aid program threatens Baylor students’ support

One of the big news stories of the spring across Texas has been the state’s budget crisis and the variety of actions the Texas Legislature is considering taking in an attempt to balance the budget. One of these possible cuts is to something called the Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG) program. It sounds boring — but chances are good it benefited you or someone you knew at Baylor, and changes to the program could prove dire for current and future Baylor students.

Forty years ago, the Texas Legislature responded to the growing number of students attending college and the strains that placed on crowded public universities by promising help in the form of the TEG. The TEG provides grant aid to financially needy Texas students, helping with the cost of attending private colleges or universities in the state. Today, more than a quarter of Baylor’s undergraduate student body receives aid from the TEG; as a whole, BU students received $12.3 million from the program this year. (Interestingly, through the TEG, it actually costs the state about half as much to support a student at a private university as it does to support one at a public institution.)

As the state Legislature looks for ways to fix the budget woes, the TEG program could be slashed or perhaps even eliminated entirely — a move that would impact not only freshmen entering BU this fall, but also upperclassmen already at Baylor who depend on these funds as part of their financial aid package. Such a drastic move could lead to many students being forced to transfer away from Baylor or drop out of college entirely — a clearly undesirable consequence for these students, for Baylor, and for the future of Texas.

President Ken Starr and others have been working hard on behalf of these students to draw attention to the issue before it’s too late, meeting with state officials in Austin and working with other private school presidents to bring the concerns to the attention of Texans. An editorial by Starr on the subject has also run in the Houston Chronicle and Waco Tribune-Herald to inform the public of the TEG’s importance; other good reads include this recent Baptist Standard column and this staff editorial from the San Antonio Express-News.

Baylor has launched a website, www.baylor.edu/saveteg, on which you’ll find a collection of other resources and articles of interest. Baylor students need your help in the battle for the TEG and ask that you contact your state legislators (the website includes a tool to help you easily find your representatives) to tell them to continue offering the promise of college education to all Texas students.

Sic ’em, Baylor Nation!