From Austin Community College’s opening in September of 1973 until the fall of 1980, growth in student enrollment grew phenomenally, from 2,363 to 18,871–or 699 percent. The College still had no taxing authority, and thus no local tax revenue with which to supplement the Texas Legislature’s biennial appropriation to the state’s 47 public community colleges. ACC served 40 percent as many students as the University of Texas but with a budget only 5 percent as large. The result was a crushing budget crunch, accentuated by an error in attendance reporting that cost the College $710,000.
