Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Overview

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) is the state’s coordinating entity for all public institutions of higher education. The mission of the THECB is to “serve as a resource, partner, and advocate for Texas higher education, resulting in a globally competitive workforce that positions Texas as an international leader.”¹ The agency has several advisory committees and programs to support their mission. The agency’s key functions include:

1. Provide a statewide perspective to ensure the efficient and effective use of higher education resources and to eliminate unnecessary duplication;
2. Develop and evaluate progress toward a long-range master plan for higher education;
3. Collect and make accessible data on higher education to support policy recommendations;
4. Make recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transitions, including between high school and postsecondary education, between institutions of higher education for transfer purposes, and between postsecondary education and the workforce; and
5. Administer programs and trusteed funds for financial aid and other grants as necessary to achieve the state’s long-range goals and as directed by the Texas Legislature.²

While most of the the agency’s work does not directly relate to mental health or substance use, the agency oversees higher education which educates and trains future mental health and substance use professionals. There are two key THECB programs that relate directly:

• Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (the Consortium)
• Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals (LRPMHP)

The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (the Consortium)

The Consortium was created in 2019 to “leverage the expertise and capacity of the health-related institutions of higher education to address urgent mental health challenges and improve the mental health care system in this state in relation to children and adolescents.”³ The Consortium is housed within the UT System and has five initiatives:

1. Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) provides telehealth-based consultation and training to primary care providers.
2. Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program provides in-school behavioral telehealth care to at-risk children and adolescents.
3. The research initiative has created two statewide networks to study and improve the delivery of child and adolescent mental health services in Texas.
4. Community Psychiatry Workforce Expansion (CPWE) funds full-time academy psychiatrists as academic medical directors and new psychiatric resident rotation positions at facilities operated by community mental health providers.
5. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) Fellowships program expands both the number of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship positions in Texas and the number of these training programs at Texas Health Reseach Institutions.⁴

The Consortium is composed of the following entities:

• The 13 state-funded health-related institutions of higher education in Texas;
• The Health and Human Services Commission;
• The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), which will receive the funding from the state and send it to the Consortium members;
• Three nonprofit organizations that focus on mental health care: Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and the Texas Council of Community Health Centers;
• A Hospital System representative;
• The University of Texas System, which is the administrative support entity; and
• Any other entity that the executive committee considers necessary.⁵

Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals (LRPMHP)

The LRPMHP was initially established in the 84^th legislative session to recruit and incentivize providers to work in rural and underserved areas of the state. The program offers up to three years of student loan repayment assistance to mental health providers working in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas (MHPSAs) and providing services to recipients under a medical assistance program, including Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).⁶ Eligible providers and award amounts are:

• Psychiatrists: $160,000
• Psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, and licensed marriage and family therapists who hold doctoral degrees: $80,000
• Advanced Practice Nurses: $60,000
• Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, licensed specialists in school psychology, and licensed marriage and family therapists who do not hold doctoral degrees: $40,000
• Licensed chemical dependency counselors who hold associate degrees: $10,000⁷

The program was consistently funded at $2 million per biennium since its creation in 2016, which led to a low number of program participants. As of 2023, 270 professionals had been served by the program.⁸ Prior to the 88^th legislative session advocates and stakeholders recommended increasing the program funding to $14 million per year to match the program with the Physician Loan Repayment Program’s existing budget. Funding recommendations were included in the Senate Select Committee to Protect All Texans interim report⁹, the Select House Youth Health & Safety Committee interim report¹⁰, and the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education interim report.¹¹

The legislature prioritized program funding leading to a total of $28 million allocated to the program for FY 2023-24 in the final version of the budget. The program’s increased funding led to immediate positive improvements, including a “rolling application” without deadlines, greater promotion, and an increase in applicants. Other legislative changes made to improve the program in the 88^th legislative session are:

• All local mental health authorities (LMHAs) and state hospitals are now eligible, regardless of location;
• 3-year program instead of 5-year program, with equal loan repayment amounts awarded per year; and
• Licensed specialists of school psychology added to the program.

Organizational Chart

To see the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board organizational chart, visit this page.

Legislative Overview

During the 88^th legislative session, THECB received additional funding for both the Texas Child Mental Healthcare Consortium (the Consortium), the Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals (LRPMHP) and for a new Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program.  The Consortium received a total of $280 million, a $162 million increase from the 87^th legislative session. The LRPMHP received $28 million, a $26 million increase from the previous session. The new Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program was funded at $5 million.

Further, a number of bills passed related to the LRPMHP, including adding new facility locations, changing the number of years required in the program, and adding a new profession type. Legislation to grow the program to include master’s level clinicians was unsuccessful.

Passed

HB 400 (KLICK/KOLKHORST) – GRANT PROGRAMS FOR PSYCHIATRIC SPECIALTY AND FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETENTION PROGRAMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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Creates a psychiatric specialty innovation grant program to award incentive payments to increase the number of physicians who specialize in adult or pediatric psychiatric care. Establishes a behavioral health innovation grant program to award incentive payments to institutions of higher education that administer innovative recruitment, training, and retention programs designed to increase the number of mental health professionals or professionals in related fields. (Note: funding for the behavioral health innovation grant program was not included in the final version of the budget.)

HB 1211 (GUILLEN/ZAFFIRINI) – LICENSED SPECIALISTS IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY INCLUSION IN LRPMHP

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Adds licensed specialists in school psychology to the list of eligible professionals for the Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals.

HB 2100 (PRICE/SCHWERTNER) – LRPMHP ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

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Extends eligibility criteria for the Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals to any eligible professional working within a LMHA/LBHA or State Hospital.

SB 532 (WEST/KUEMPEL) – MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES INFORMATION AND LRPMHP ELIGIBILITY

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Reduces the service requirement for the Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals from 5 years to 3 years and extends eligibility criteria for the Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals to any eligible professional working within a LMHA/LBHA or State Hospital.

*Amended to include language from HB 2100 (Price/Schwertner) and HB 3631 (Lalani)

Did Not Pass

HB 1167/SB 47 (ROMERO/ZAFFIRINI) – LICENSE RECIPROCITY RULES FOR CERTAIN OUT-OF-STATE MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

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Would have aligned reciprocity rules for out-of-state licensed professional counselors (LPCs) licensed social workers, and licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs).

SB 1282/HB 4154 (SPRINGER/FRANK) – TEXAS MENTAL HEALTH CARE ENTERPRISE FUND AND LICENSE RECIPROCITY FOR CERTAIN MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

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Would have established the Texas Mental Health Care Enterprise Fund to provide annual bonuses to qualifying healthcare professionals in public mental healthcare facilities; would have established license reciprocity for out-of-state mental health professionals.

SB 2048 (MILES) – ADD SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO THE LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

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Would have added all mental health professionals working within a public school system to be eligible for the LRPMRP regardless of the school’s locations and number of Medicaid eligible students.

SB 2049 (MILES) – ADD LICENSED MASTER SOCIAL WORKERS AND LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATES TO THE LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

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Would have allowed licensed master social workers (LMSWs) and licensed professional counselor associates (LPC-As) to be eligible for the LRPMHP.

Funding

THECB Funding Trends: All Funds ^{23 24 25 26}

THECB Funding by Method of Finance (FY2024-25) ²⁷

References

1. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. (2023). About us. https://www.highered.texas.gov/about/ ↩︎
2. Ibid. ↩︎
3. Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. (2023). Who we are.https://tcmhcc.utsystem.edu/ ↩︎
4. Ibid. ↩︎
5. Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. (2023). Overview. https://tcmhcc.utsystem.edu/overview/ ↩︎
6. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. (2023). Mental Health Professionals Loan Repayment Program. Retrieved from http://www.hhloans.com/index.cfm?objectid=E27A2130-C7DC-11EC-B45B0050560100A9 ↩︎
7. Ibid. ↩︎
8. Personal communication (THECB staff) *** ↩︎
9. Texas Senate. (2022). Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans: Interim report to the 88^th Legislature. https://senate.texas.gov/cmtes/87/c639/c639_InterimReport_2022.pdf ↩︎
10. Texas House of Representatives. (2023). Select House Committee on Youth Health & Safety: Interim report to the 88^th Texas Legislature. https://house.texas.gov/_media/pdf/committees/reports/87interim/Youth-Health-&-Safety-Committee-Interim-Report-2022.pdf ↩︎
11. Texas Senate. (2023). Senate Higher Education Committee Interim report. https://senate.texas.gov/cmtes/88/c535/c560_InterimReport_2022.pdf ↩︎
12. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. (n.d.). Texas higher education data. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from http://www.txhighereddata.org/Interactive/Institutions.cfm ↩︎
13. Ibid. ↩︎
14. National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Texas psychriatry programs. College Navigator. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from http://from%20https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=TX&p=51.3810+51.1502&l=91+92+93+94&ct=1+2 ↩︎
15. National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Texas psychology programs. College Navigator. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=TX&p=42&l=91+92+93+94&ct=1+2+3\ ↩︎
16. National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Texas social work programs. College Navigator. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=TX&p=44.0799+44.0701+44.0703+51.1503&l=91+92+93+94&ct=1+2+3 ↩︎
17. National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Texas counselling programs. College Navigator. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=TX&p=51.1506+42.2899+13.1102+51.1504+42.2803+13.1101+51.1509+51.1505+51.1508+39.0799+39.0701+13.1199+51.1501+51.1513+51.2310&l=91+92+93+94&ct=1+2+3 ↩︎
18. National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Texas marriage and family therapy programs. College Navigator. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=TX&p=51.1505&l=91+92+93+94&ct=1+2+3 ↩︎
19. Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. (2022). Texas child mental health care consortium biennial report September 1, 2020 – August 31, 2022 https://tcmhcc.utsystem.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FINAL-TCMHCC-Report-to-the-LBB-FYS-21-22.pdf ↩︎
20. Harris, S.C. & Rice, A.N. (2021). Issues of cultural competence in mental health care. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (61), 1, e65-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2020.10.015 ↩︎
21. Boswell, J. F., Constantino, M. J., Coyne, A. E., & Kraus, D. R. (2022). For whom does a match matter most? Patient-level moderators of evidence-based patient–therapist matching. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 90(1), 61–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000644 ↩︎
22. Mancoske, R.J., Lewis, M.L., Bowers-Stephens, C., & Ford, A. (2012). Cultural competence and children’s mental health services outcomes. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work (21), 3, 195-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2012.700445 ↩︎
23. Texas Legislature Online. (2017). S.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 85^th Legislature, FY 2018-19. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/85R/billtext/pdf/SB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
24. Texas Legislature Online. (2019). H.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 86^th Legislature, FY 2020-21. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/billtext/pdf/HB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
25. Texas Legislature Online. (2021). S.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 87^th Legislature, FY 2022-23. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/SB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
26. Texas Legislature Online. (2023). H.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 88^th Legislature, FY 2024-25. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/HB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
27. Texas Legislature Online. (2023). H.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 88^th Legislature, FY 2024-25. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/HB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎

Updated on December 16th, 2024