Addressing the higher education needs of the state necessarily focuses on communities along the U.S. border with Mexico. The 43 Border counties are home to 4 million Texans, constituting one fifth of the state's population. Migration patterns ensure that improved education of this population will bestow social and economic benefits not only to Border communities, but to the entire state. Achieving the vision of a more educated population along the Border will require significant improvements in the higher education opportunities in the region. This compares with 58 PhD programs at a single campus in Lubbock, a region with a stagnant population.
Funding is also imbalanced.
These funds are used for new construction and renovation of facilities, as well as acquisition of technology and library materials. Over the past 15 years, the disparities between these two sources of funding has been tremendous. The disparity in a single year is illustrated in the figure to the right. This short-term approach does not allow for the 10 or 15 years of planning required in regions with rapidly growing populations. Responding to the facility expansion needs to educate the border population requires significantly more planning and funding than this formula allows.