CAPITOL LETTERS

Higher ed. writer Holly Hacker has found some interesting background on the governor's big initiative for state universities:

Gov. Rick Perry has a new plan for higher education that calls for, among other things, mandatory testing of college students, more detailed college budgets and paying colleges more for every student they graduate.

Now we know where he got some of those ideas. The Governor’s Business Council, a group of powerful, wealthy business leaders in Texas, has an “action plan” for higher education. The Council released its final report this week but it’s been in the works for a while. Among its recs: require colleges to measure student achievement, make them be clearer about their costs, and give colleges incentives based on results, like the number of students who their academic programs.

One thing the Council recommends, but Perry doesn’t, is replacing the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which oversees higher ed in the state, with something stronger. The board has long been seen as relatively weak -- if lawmakers really want something, like a new campus, they’ll get their way, even if it goes against the Coord Board. A more powerful body, arguably, would stay focused on higher ed goals across the state, not just in one legislator’s district versus another’s. Of course, it remains to be seen how willingly lawmakers would give up their influence.