An Efficiency Audit
An Efficiency Audit of the Higher Education Coordinating Board
October 2026
The State Auditor's Office contracted with Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) to conduct an efficiency audit of the Higher Education Coordinating Board (Board), in accordance with Texas Government Code, Chapter 327.
Baker Tilly identified three main areas with inefficiencies. These are:
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Management Processes.
- The Board's key organizational decisions and changes are not always communicated with the context needed for leaders and staff to act efficiently.
- The Board's major programs and initiatives are not consistently linked to intended outcomes and agency-wide strategic priorities, limiting the Board's ability to determine whether resources are focused on efforts producing intended results.
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Technology Modernization.
- The Board's technology decisions are not consistently evaluated from an agency-wide perspective, limiting opportunities to optimize technology investments.
- The Board's larger technology needs are not managed through a consistent, documented process, limiting the Board's ability to measure performance and efficiently plan technology-dependent work.
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Business Process Optimization.
- The Board's community college funding processes rely on manual workflows across multiple systems, increasing administrative effort and reducing time for higher-value analysis.
- The Board's manual loan administration processes and legacy systems increase administrative effort and reduce operational efficiency.
- Academic program approvals for public higher education institutions rely on multiple systems and manual steps, increasing administrative effort and reducing efficiency.
- Incomplete hiring milestone information limits the Board's ability to identify delays, target process improvements, and improve hiring efficiency.
Auditors did not identify any duplication, overlap, or conflict with other state agencies or misalignment between the Board's rules in the Texas Administrative Code and its statutory authority and mission.
The Board provided an implementation plan, which is presented in the attached report. Overall, the Board agreed to implement Baker Tilly's recommendations.
