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Journey Stories

Empower students to persuade Texas legislators to increase state funding for community college
 

Narrative
Landscape
Mapping the Narrative Landscape

Young Invincibles analyzed how policy advocates and Texas-based media outlets were framing the need for community college finance reform. What they suspected was true: student perspectives were lacking in the public narrative about community college funding.

Policymakers

Mindset
Understanding Audience Mindset

Interviewing legislators, staff, and policy advocates, Young Invincibles learned that policymakers value community colleges for their role in filling workforce gaps in Texas. Accordingly, the needs of employers carry weight with policymakers, while student voices are perceived as less influential.

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Persuasion
Testing Persuasive Messages

What would persuade legislators to increase community college funding? To convince legislators to focus on making community college more affordable while also aligning the funding to better meet workforce needs, Young Invincibles found that students needed to share stories about working hard toward their goals and provide detailed data about the financial barriers they face.

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Action
Putting Messaging Into Action

Young Invincibles trained 12 student leaders and engaged 1,000+ students to share their stories with Texas legislators. Students testified 22 times, and news coverage featured student needs, not just workforce gaps. Legislation passed, increasing state funding to community colleges more than 20% and expanding financial aid. Legislators cited young people as key influencers in the policy change.

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Creating
Change
Creating Change

Young Invincibles is building narrative power for young people. They learned how to amplify young people’s voices and empower them to influence the policies that affect their lives. Now they’re exploring how to bring the power of narrative change into all their issue areas.

Creating Change
Creating Change

Young Invincibles is building narrative power for young people. They learned how to amplify young people’s voices and empower them to influence the policies that affect their lives. Now they’re exploring how to bring the power of narrative change into all their issue areas.

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What is the audience's mindset?

Key Takeaway

Interviewing legislators, staff, and policy advocates, Young Invincibles learned that policymakers value community colleges for their role in filling workforce gaps in Texas. Accordingly, the needs of employers carry weight with policymakers, while student voices are perceived as less influential.

An icon to identify the Mindset step of messaging.
Insights
  • Many policymakers in Texas attended a 4-year institution
  • Policymakers and advocates frame the value of 4-year degrees differently than community college
  • Policymakers and advocates see community college as a way to fill “middle skill” workforce gaps
  • Liberal and conservative policy advocates have differing views on funding priorities
  • Advocates disagree on how to solve the long-term challenges facing community colleges
  • The business case for the value of community colleges to local employers is likely to be most persuasive
  • Policymakers and advocates value student voice, but believe it won't influence legislators’ decisions
For Example:
The business case for the value of community colleges to local employers is likely to be most persuasive
In Their Own Words
“But I would say that they [state legislators] do pay a lot more...they tend to pay a lot more attention to the business community. Employers within their district in particular are a big audience for them.”

Liberal policymaker/advocate, TX
For Example:
Policymakers and advocates value student voice, but believe it won't influence legislators’ decisions
In Their Own Words
"I'm just gonna be blunt about it. Because of the way that the processes work in the Texas legislature, it's, how should I say this? The real decisions aren't made on camera. And so because of that, I would be shocked if, at the actual decision making table, if a student was actually physically or even virtually represented at that table. That's not to say that it's not an important thing to kind of pursue. I would just say it's impractical.”

Liberal policymaker/advocate, TX
"I think student voice is very important, but being a student is not the end goal. Okay. So like a student, ideally being a student, at least in this context would be an intermediary phase towards a larger outcome. And so having students' perspectives and experiences, it's almost like a situation of arrested development where their perspective right now might be different than their perspective in six months.”
Conservative policymaker/advocate, TX

What messages are most persuasive to the target audience?

Key Takeaway

What would persuade legislators to increase community college funding? To convince legislators to focus on making community college more affordable while also aligning the funding to better meet workforce needs, Young Invincibles found that students needed to share stories about working hard toward their goals and provide detailed data about the financial barriers they face.

An icon to identify the Persuasion step of messaging.
Narrative Framework
Hypothesis Revisions Final
Connection

Texas community college students aspire to have successful careers and provide for their families

Texas community college students aspire to have successful careers and provide for their families

Texas community college students aspire to have successful careers and provide for their families. 

Problem

State disinvestment in community colleges and declining enrollment despite increasing workforce demands. We need community colleges to be affordable and provide programs and credentials that lead to good jobs.

State disinvestment in community colleges and declining enrollment despite With increasing workforce demands, We need community colleges can to be affordable and provide the programs and credentials that lead students to good jobs in high-demand industries. But for too many students, community college isn’t affordable.

With increasing workforce demands in Texas, community colleges can provide the programs and credentials that lead students to good jobs in high-demand industries. But for too many students, community college isn’t affordable.

Solution

Policymakers listen to students to identify complete solution: outcome-based funding meets employer needs (workforce demands) and increased state investment meets student needs (affordability) 

Policymakers listen to students to identify complete solution: Outcome-based funding meets employer needs (workforce demands) and combined with increased state investment that makes community college more affordable and meets student needs (affordability) would ensure community colleges prioritize programs that successfully prepare young people for good jobs in high-demand industries.  

Outcome-based funding, combined with increased state investment that makes community college more affordable and meets student needs, would ensure community colleges prioritize programs that successfully prepare young people for good jobs in high-demand industries. 

Vision

Texas community colleges help diverse group of students thrive, provide for families, and contribute to a strong Texas economy 

Texas community colleges help diverse group of students thrive, provide for families, and contribute to a strong prosperity in Texas economy 

Texas community colleges help diverse group of students thrive, provide for families, and contribute to prosperity in Texas.

Insights
  • There are two core values that resonate with policymakers and advocates: economic prosperity and students working hard for career and family
  • Positive, asset-framed student stories and testimony were powerful and influential
  • Show — don’t tell — that student voices matter through storytelling
  • Story-based messages with detailed data are more effective than stories without facts or broad appeals
  • Messages and stories about community college finance will be more effective if they are perceived as unrelated to other “third rail” issues in Texas politics
  • Conservative lawmakers in Texas value efficiency and low taxes
  • Policymakers are especially interested in hearing from community college students in unique areas
  • Avoid jargon when describing the kind of jobs that community colleges can help students access 
For Example:
There are two core values that resonate with policymakers and advocates: economic prosperity and students working hard for career and family
In Their Own Words
"You definitely would have the liberal point of view about being able to fund more opportunities for people that need it. And at the same time you have this [community college student], Christian, who's basically saying 'yes, I worked really hard,' which is good. You want people to work, to work hard and for their education. At the same time, we still need to try to remove as many barriers as possible. And if we have problems in our system that need to be fixed, and obviously to me, I think this kind of appeals to both [liberals and conservatives]."
Policymaker/advocate, Texas
For Example:
Story-based messages with detailed data are more effective than stories without facts or broad appeals
In Their Own Words
“He basically states his case about how long it took him to get the degree and why, because of having to work full-time, what kind of just made it a little bit more impactful to me now was the actual stats that he used.”
Policymaker/advocate, Texas

How were the messages put into action?

Key Takeaway

Young Invincibles trained 12 student leaders and engaged 1,000+ students to share their stories with Texas legislators. Students testified 22 times, and news coverage featured student needs, not just workforce gaps. Legislation passed, increasing state funding to community colleges more than 20% and expanding financial aid. Legislators cited young people as key influencers in the policy change.

 

An icon to identify the Action step of messaging.
Impact

Community college students were successful in persuading the Texas Community College Finance Commission to recommend policy solutions that increase the affordability of community college. Young Invincibles trained 12 student leaders and engaged 1,000+ community college students to share their stories and aspirations for affordable community college. As a result, students testified for the legislation 22 times, and news stories about the legislation featured students and coverage focused on student needs, not only workforce gaps. Student advocacy resulted in historic legislation that passed in Texas, dedicating $684 million to Texas community colleges and enhancing outcomes for students. The impact is a 20% increase in state allocations to community colleges (from $1.8 billion to $2.2 billion over the next 2 years) and a significant expansion of financial aid and scholarships for low-income dual-credit students. 

Insights
  • The presence and visibility of student voices in news coverage and public testimony increased — important steps in building power for young people in Texas over time
  • Student narrative power was built and leveraged in order to shape the community college financing legislation in Texas, resulting in more state funding for community college students 
  • Consistent engagement with young people — through testimonials, op-eds, social media posts — are key to continued influence over policymakers in Texas
  • Legislators listened to community college students and described them as influential
  • Narrative and messaging training increased young people’s skills, confidence and intention to tell their stories to policymakers in effective, persuasive ways
  • Student voices highlighting personal aspirations and the future of Texas’ workforce needs were featured in op-eds and news coverage 
  • Student-led advocacy ensured media coverage about community college finance reform was reframed from a focus on problems such as declining enrollment to a focus on solutions such as college affordability and meeting workforce needs 

 

 

For Example:
The presence and visibility of student voices in news coverage and public testimony increased — important steps in building power for young people in Texas over time
In Their Own Words

Student Advisory Council member, Daisy Donjuan, published an op-ed in support of HB 8 called, "Community college opened the door for me to affordable education," in the Dallas Morning News on March 30, 2023

“While much cheaper than a four-year degree, many of us still rely on the state’s primary need-based financial aid program for two-year students to afford the full cost of attending community colleges. But as I learned the hard way, it’s not a fail-safe. Only a fraction of eligible students have access to this particular grant program…I’m set to transfer to Austin College next year to continue on my path to becoming an attorney — a path made possible because of the opportunities community colleges provided me. I want to be an example to my community, to show them that if I can do it, they can too. But in order for that to happen, our community colleges need support. As our state legislators meet and decide the fate of HB 8 and SB 2539, I hope they will remember my story and invest in making more Texans’ futures like mine.”
- Daisy Donjuan, Student Advisory Council member
In Their Own Words

Student Advisory Council members testified 22 times in support of community college finance reform in Texas, using Young Invincibles new narrative framework and approach to storytelling.

“Tyler Junior College is where I found the self-respect, commitment, and community that helped make me the person I am today…Our community colleges are like the hard-working Texans they serve. They hold down multiple jobs to get things done, shore up the communities they are a part of, and wear many hats without complaint despite so often being under-appreciated and under-compensated for their efforts…That’s what makes HB 8 so necessary — it ensures state funding for community colleges grows with outcomes that help students compete and succeed in today’s changing economy. This new formula would also account for and reward the success of those who might need additional support — economically and academically disadvantaged students and adult learners like me…HB 8 also addresses the unique needs of smaller community colleges by providing a base level of funding to ensure rural Texans have the education and training opportunities to help grow their regional economies. Imagine if high school graduates could earn the credentials and develop the skills to support their families without having to relocate to a big city. I urge you to support HB 8 to build a more prosperous, successful state for all Texans.”
Victoria Hoover, Student Advisory Council member
For Example:
Legislators listened to community college students and described them as influential
In Their Own Words
“We heard from a lot of community college students as we took testimony, especially in the public testimony portion of our hearings, and that was very impactful, very important. We can sit in a room in Austin, in the Capitol, and think we know what is needed out there. But to have people come in and share their life experiences, what is happening for them right now in the community college and the barriers they're facing, the opportunities that [are] provided them — that was very impactful as we crafted the final bill and pushed it through the legislative process, ultimately to the governor's signature.”
Policymaker, Texas