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Senate education chair announces work group on community colleges after JLBC funding briefing
Summary
After an JLBC overview of community college funding, Senate Education Committee Chair announced a stakeholder work group to review the role, state obligation and governance/funding models for Arizona community colleges.
Senate Education Committee Chair T.J. Farnsworth on Monday announced a work group to examine community college funding and governance, following a Joint Legislative Budget Committee presentation that outlined statutory operating aid, STEM aid, equalization aid and other state support mechanisms.
Ethan Schneider of JLBC briefed the committee on community college revenues and formula programs, noting community colleges receive a mix of general fund appropriations, tuition and fees, property taxes and federal and state grants. Schneider said the FY2026 baseline includes roughly $100 million from the general fund for a set of appropriations and that non‑appropriated revenues, including tuition, fees and property taxes, total about $2 billion.
Chair Farnsworth described community colleges as “personal to my story” and said he will convene a work group to explore three questions: the role and purpose of community colleges in Arizona’s higher education landscape; the state’s obligation to community colleges; and whether current governance and funding models support those roles. He invited stakeholders and legislators to contact his office to participate.
What JLBC presented:
- Operating aid is enrollment‑based; Maricopa and Pima have been suspended from that aid in session law since 2016, and the FY2026 estimated formula amount for operating aid was cited as roughly $13.8 million.
- STEM aid, also enrollment‑based and targeted to workforce/STEM programs, had an FY2026 estimated formula of about $15.1 million; the presentation noted prior suspensions had been lifted for STEM aid.
- Equalization aid targets community college districts in counties with assessed valuations below a statutory threshold; JLBC estimated equalization at just under $50 million for FY2026.
- Schneider described several other statutory and appropriated programs, including tribal college funding tied to compact receipts, aid for unestablished rural districts (Apache and Greenlee counties), and a rural aid appropriation that has been ongoing since FY2022 and is allocated by enrollment share among non‑Maricopa/Pima districts.
Why it matters: community colleges are a significant pathway to workforce credentials, associate degrees and, increasingly, some four‑year programs. The chair framed the work group as an attempt to ensure the system meets current student and workforce needs and to evaluate whether statutory funding aligns with those goals.
Next steps: Chair Farnsworth asked interested individuals and groups to contact his office. He said the time and place for the work group will be set later and that the committee will consider presentations from a range of perspectives in future hearings.
The JLBC appendix includes county allocations and additional detail; committee members asked JLBC to remain available for follow‑up questions.
