Decreased State Appropriations and their Impact on Texas Public Four-Year Higher Education Institutions Tuition Rates through Deregulated Tuition

Abstract

The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationships between state appropriation decreases and the deregulated tuition cost increases in Texas public four-year higher education institutions.  State appropriation decreases are those decreases in the state’s financial investment in higher education.  Deregulated tuition is the tuition rate set by higher education institutions that is not regulated by the Texas Legislature.  By studying the decreases in state appropriations and the increases in institution tuition rates, an understanding can take shape of what impact, if any, the disinvestment by state legislatures has caused to the operations of higher education institutions. Findings from this study showed no evidence of a correlation existing between the decrease in state appropriations and the increase of Texas public higher education institution tuition costs, when the analysis reviewed the timeframe from fiscal years 2003 to 2016.