Collin College Wylie Campus. Sara Carpenter/Collin College

A bill signed into law by the governor in June 2023 offers an incentive model to reform the state’s community college finance system. 

Shifting away from the previous enrollment metrics model, Texas House Bill 8 (HB 8) is an outcomes-based approach that rewards colleges for awarding degrees and certificates, completion of dual credit courses and successful student transfers from community colleges to four-year universities. 

The state’s 50 community college districts have been preparing for the change for months and the program is still in its implementation stage. But the first funds under the new model, which allocated $683 million in additional money to community colleges from the state budget, started moving in October 2023. 

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