*Missing data was replaced using the special-district dataset from the Texas Comptroller
+
HELP & TOOL INFORMATION
The Texas 2036 Community College Financial Simulator is designed to help policy makers,
stakeholders,
and the general public better understand the impact of changes to the state financial formula on
both
individual
community colleges and the state budget.
To use the tool, use the dropdowns on the left-hand side of the screen to make changes to specific
components
of
the state formula. Use the reset button in the top right-hand corner of the Formula Inputs bar to
reset all
formula components to default without resetting the entire page.
To visualize both current and projected revenues of community colleges in the state, the tool
provides a set
of
data figures and a date table in the center of the screen. These figures can be modified using
buttons in the
top right-hand corner of each box, including options like displayed data, groupings, or selected
district.
Take
some time to play with these options to better understand how they affect the outputs of each
figure.
Similarly,
the table can be modified based on what data the user would like to display, and can be sorted by
those data
choices using arrows at the top of each column. Districts can be filtered for using the "Filter for
districts"
input box.
Finally, to understand the overall impact of the selected formula changes, at the top of the screen
the tool
offers a "Formula Cost," which is the total amount of money necessary to pay for the new formula
created by
the
user. By default, this amount is compared against the state budget in Fiscal Year 2020, with the
"Deficit/Surplus" estimating how far above or below the budget this new formula would be. The user
can modify
the assumed budget (up or down) using arrows next to the State Budget field.
