Higher education transparency got a big boost yesterday when an amendment to Senate Bill 5, authored by State Representative Bill Zedler, was proposed and adopted. The amendment would require most institutions of higher education to create a check register detailing financial transactions made using either appropriated general revenue funds or student tuition and fees or provide a link on the institution’s homepage to the state’s financial transparency website, Where the Money Goes.

If the state’s colleges and universities choose to create a check register, the database must include:

  • The amount of the payment;
  • The date of the payment;
  • A brief description of the purpose of the payment; and
  • The name of the payee.

By taking this additional step to promote open government, interested taxpayers will have another tool with which to better educate themselves on how and where their tax dollars are being spent by institutions of higher education. That is, assuming the House’s amendment survives the conference committee.

-James Quintero