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THECB presents FY24 Financial Aid Report: aid up, unmet need still rising
Summary
THECB staff previewed the 176‑page Financial Aid Report for fiscal year 2024 to the advisory committee, highlighting that more gift aid is flowing to low‑income students but unmet need and graduate‑level need remain significant policy priorities.
Chris Willen and THECB analysts briefed the Financial Aid Advisory Committee on the agency’s fiscal year 2024 Financial Aid Report (FAR), a comprehensive review of state, federal, institutional and private aid.
Willen said the report — 176 pages this year — is intended both to meet statutory reporting requirements and to serve as an operational resource for institutions, legislators and the public. “Access and success without quality is mediocrity, and quality without access and success is unacceptable,” he quoted from the coordinating board’s philosophy and used the phrase to frame the report’s metrics.
Top findings presented to the committee included: - Scale: THECB reported roughly 1,000,000 Texas students received about $13.5 billion in financial aid in FY24 (aggregate figure provided by THECB staff). - Mix of aid: A larger share of undergraduate aid is now gift aid relative to loans; THECB staff said the state directs gift aid toward low‑income students. - Student debt: THECB highlighted that most undergraduates graduate with no or “manageable” debt; the agency reported 96% of a cited cohort met the manageable debt threshold. - Unmet need: THECB data show unmet student need (the portion of cost of attendance not covered by aid or expected family contribution) has increased and remains a key policy concern for the agency. - Program outcomes: THECB’s program profiles show recipients of Texas Grant, TEOG and other state programs outperform comparable peers across several academic outcome measures.
Willen called out new programs and baselines in the report: the Texas Leadership Scholars Program, the Forward Loan and the Texas Transfer Grant appear in FY24 data, while FAST will be included for the first time in the next report because data lag prevented inclusion this year. He also emphasized the report relies on the Financial Aid Database (FAD), which contains student‑level records that enable the report’s analyses.
Committee members asked how to access the report and its underlying tables; staff said the FAR and appendices are posted on THECB’s website and provided navigation instructions and a direct link during the meeting. Willen urged practitioners to use the report’s appendices and program profiles when drafting public comments or preparing institutional analyses.
THECB staff framed the FAR as a recurring evaluation tool: it both documents progress (for example, higher shares of gift aid) and identifies gaps (notably unmet need and graduate student need) that will inform policy and budgetary recommendations.
