Renzo Soto, Policy Advisor

Renzo Soto, Policy Advisor

Renzo Soto, Policy Advisor

Posts

stacking credentials COV blog series featured image

Credentials of value 101: Stacking the credentials

August 30, 2023

Our prior two blogs on credentials of value provided recommendations on how the state can ensure the new HB 8 formula that rewards credential of value completion leads students to options proven to meet employers’ requirements for entry into an occupation with good wages. This final blog on credentials of value focuses on how the…

Credentials of value 101: Creating best pathways to jobs

August 29, 2023

In our previous blog on the topic of credentials of value, we recommended that the state look at all available credentials in Texas and determine which are credentials of value so as to maximize students’ options for credentials with proven wage premiums. This blog explores how the state can use credentials’ linkages with relevant job…

credentials of value threshold blog series, pt. 1 featured image

Credentials of value 101: What is the minimum value threshold?

August 22, 2023

House Bill 8, this Legislature’s high-profile package of reforms aimed at overhauling community colleges’ funding formulas, tasks the state with identifying which postsecondary credentials pass the minimum value threshold (MVT) for designation as a “credential of value.” The legislation also sets the dollar amounts for rewarding colleges for graduating students with such a credential. These…

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HB 8 emergency rules: Texas 2036 comments

August 22, 2023

The following written comments by Policy Advisor Renzo Soto were submitted Aug. 22 to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding the adoption of emergency rules to implement HB 8 (88-R). To Chairman Farias, Vice Chair Williams, members of the Board, and Commissioner Keller, Texas 2036 extends our gratitude for your leadership in helping secure…

rethinking community colleges legislative reform package

Rethinking community colleges and the workforce of the future

July 25, 2023

Legislators this year took a historic step toward fundamentally realigning the way Texas funds its community colleges. The goal? Ensuring Texans are earning postsecondary credentials that will give them greater access to higher-paying careers. The product of years of work by a commission established to rethink community colleges’ financing systems, this reform effort emphasized funding…

Understanding HB 8: Bolstering supports for low-income students

July 10, 2023

This is the third installment in the Texas 2036 blog series on House Bill 8, this legislative session’s main effort at overhauling the funding formulas for the state’s community colleges and providing supports for the workforce of the future. We conclude our review of the community college finance reforms in HB 8 by diving into…

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