FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2025
Contact: Emma Bittner
(972) 510-3395 | Emma.Bittner@younginvincibles.org
Investing in Our Students Must Be Texas’ Top Priority
Texas PACE Releases its 2025 Policy Agenda Focused on Higher Education and Workforce Pathways
(Austin, TX) – Today, the Texas Postsecondary Advocates Coalition for Equity (PACE) released its 2025 Policy Agenda for the 89th Texas Legislative Session.
Texas PACE is a coalition of organizations committed to increasing postsecondary affordability, credential completion, and earnings for Texas students of all ages and backgrounds. The coalition works to ensure students have access to the necessary academic, career, and financial resources they need to succeed in their education, secure quality jobs, and provide for their families.
Rising costs, compounded by inflation, continue to put higher education out of reach for many Texans. Non-tuition expenses—including housing, food, transportation, and childcare —remain significant barriers to college persistence and completion. Removing these barriers are pivotal to ensure all students, including students from low-income backgrounds and working adults, can be successful and reach their full potential.
PACE members have been hard at work for months on this agenda, which outlines necessary priorities and recommendations for the 89th legislative session that center student success and well-being. Emphasizing maximizing community college success, investing in need-based financial aid, improving affordability, and increasing access to basic needs and support, it details best practices to prioritize the future of Texas students.
Kasey Corpus, Southern Policy and Advocacy Manager at Young Invincibles said:
“Texas students should be able to achieve their education and career goals without taking on insurmountable, lasting debt. House Bill 8 from the 88th legislative session was historic legislation that paved the way for critical investments in the success of Texas students. It is imperative we follow in the footsteps of this legislation and continue to improve the funding, affordability, and access of higher education.
Students, especially community college students, face a basic needs crisis and too often struggle to support themselves and pursue higher education. We must ensure students can focus on their studies rather than worry about where their next meal will come from or where they will sleep that night.
Regardless of where you come from, what you look like, or how much money you have, everyone should have an equal opportunity to learn and enter the workforce prepared.”
Andrea Thurston, Senior Higher Education Policy Analyst at EdTrust in Texas, said:
“Our state’s future depends on our ability to invest in Texans and ensure they have the resources they need to succeed in higher education and the workforce. Too many students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, first-generation students and parenting students, face barriers that make completing a degree or credential incredibly challenging. Texas must prioritize need-based financial aid and comprehensive student support systems to close completion gaps and build an educated and skilled workforce that benefits all Texans.”
Jaime Puente, Director of Economic Opportunity at Every Texan, said:
“Higher education is essential to the well-being of all Texans. Together, Texas PACE presents an agenda focused on supporting access and pathways to credentials and degrees that will shape our future. The Texas PACE agenda for the 89th Legislature builds on already-successful investments by prioritizing the financial and academic supports that students need to achieve their goals and contribute to a thriving state economy.”
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Texas PACE is a coalition of organizations committed to increasing postsecondary affordability, credential completion, and earnings for Texas students of all ages and backgrounds by ensuring they have access to the necessary academic, career, and financial resources to learn, secure a good job, and provide for their families. For more information, please contact Emma Bittner at (972) 510-3395 or emma.bittner@younginvincibles.org, and Oliver Bernstein at (512) 289-8618 or oliver@steadyhandpr.com