Boost Postsecondary Affordability and Completion in Texas
January 08, 2025 by EdTrust in Texas 
January 08, 2025 by EdTrust in Texas
At EdTrust in Texas, we work to ensure that every student, regardless of income or background, has access to affordable, high-quality higher education and the support needed to complete their degree or credential. By addressing systemic barriers to postsecondary affordability and success, we aim to expand opportunities for all Texans to achieve economic mobility and personal fulfillment.
Featured Research and Resources
Higher Education Emergency Aid in Texas
This resource represents a first-of-its-kind study of how Texas institutions utilized $6 5 billion in federal Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) funds. This mixed-method research combines quantitative analysis and qualitative focus groups with more than 50 practitioners and students from Texas community colleges to capture insights, innovative practices, and recommendations resulting from the distribution of more than $2.5 billion in emergency aid to students during the pandemic. These findings also reinforce the significant level of financial and basic needs insecurity experienced by Texas students and the need for institution- and state-level policy change to drive systemic solutions.
Who Deserves State Financial Aid?
This analysis examines financial aid programs and policies in ten states, including Texas. It highlights 12 key eligibility requirements that often serve as barriers for underserved student populations and offers a framework for expanding financial aid access.
Affordability State Policy Roadmap (coming soon)
Higher Education and Incarceration
Investing in higher education for incarcerated individuals is essential for reducing recidivism, empowering individuals, and fostering safer, stronger communities. Texas has an opportunity to lead the nation in expanding educational access for incarcerated students and ensuring that higher education in prisons is accessible, of quality, and leads to social and economic mobility.
Toward Comprehensive Higher Education in Texas Prisons
This blog highlights the need for holistic higher education programs in Texas prisons, addressing barriers such as limited program availability, inadequate funding, and policy restrictions. It provides actionable recommendations for creating pathways to success for incarcerated individuals.
Higher Education in Texas Prisons
This research dives into the current state of higher education programs in Texas prisons, examining gaps in access and equity. It outlines strategies for improving program quality and ensuring incarcerated students have meaningful opportunities to earn degrees and credentials.
Justice Fellows Policy Program
Choosing to pursue higher education should not be fraught with barriers. For justice-impacted individuals, the barriers are even higher. That’s why, in 2021, we started the Justice Policy Fellowship — to elevate the voices of individuals who are directly impacted by the legal system.
We select outstanding people from across the country who have a passion for expanding access to higher education and a strong desire to develop their policy knowledge and advocacy skills. Throughout this yearlong fellowship, Justice Fellows use their lived experiences to inform, review, and amplify EdTrust’s policy recommendations to make a difference in the lives of other justice-impacted people who want to pursue their education.
By advancing policies that prioritize affordability and access—both inside and outside the prison system—EdTrust in Texas is committed to creating a more equitable and prosperous future for all Texans.