Coalition of Students, Faculty, and Community Advocates Urge Texas Lawmakers to Protect the Future of Higher Education

Media Contacts

Texas AFT: Marco Guajardo, [email protected]
Texas Students for DEI, Izabella De la Garza: [email protected]
Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT): Hayden Cohen, [email protected]
Legal Defense Fund: Troi Barnes, [email protected]

AUSTIN, TEXAS - On August 17 and 18, 2026, the Texas House Higher Education Committee will consider the state of higher education in two interim hearings. In response, a diverse coalition of students, faculty, and community advocates are speaking up and calling on lawmakers to strengthen higher education by protecting academic freedom, preserving student choice, expanding access, and investing in the students and faculty who will shape Texas's future.

The coalition issued the following statement before the hearings:

"As the Texas House Higher Education Committee examines the state of higher education, we urge lawmakers to focus on what Texas students, faculty, families, and communities need to succeed: meaningful access to higher education, academic freedom, broad educational opportunities, strong faculty participation in university governance, and campuses where every student can learn and participate fully.

"Texas has set ambitious goals for building a strong workforce and competing nationally in higher education. Meeting those goals requires policies that strengthen, not undermine, the institutions, educators, and students who make that success possible.

"Students should have meaningful choices about what they study. Universities should be able to offer a broad range of courses and programs based on academic value, student demand, workforce needs, and faculty expertise-not political pressure. Students also need the advising, mentorship, community, and other support that help them not only enroll in college, but persist, graduate, and enter careers.

"Academic freedom is central to a strong university system. Students and faculty must be able to ask difficult questions, examine contested ideas, conduct research, teach, and engage in debate without political interference. Likewise, faculty must have a meaningful and independent voice in decisions affecting curriculum, academic standards, and the educational mission of their institutions.

"These principles are not separate from Texas's economic and workforce goals-they are essential to achieving them. When educational opportunities narrow, faculty leave, programs are weakened, and students lose access to the resources and fields of study they need, Texas becomes less competitive for talent, research, and innovation.

"Texas should be recruiting and retaining talented students and faculty, not creating conditions that intimidate them, discriminate against them, or encourage them to leave. We call on the Legislature to strengthen higher education by protecting academic freedom, preserving student choice, supporting meaningful shared governance, expanding college access and student success, and investing in the long-term competitiveness of Texas universities. Texas can-and must-build a higher education system where every student has the opportunity to learn, every faculty member can teach and research freely, and every institution can compete and thrive."