Issue date: 6/7/05 Section: News

Texas A&M University’s proposed budget increase for the next two years is not as large as some University officials had hoped for and could lead to increased tuition in the fall.A joint legislative committee composed of congressmen from the state Senate and House of Representatives has proposed a budget, which sets spending for the entire state of Texas in 2006 and 2007. Under the proposed budget, A&M would receive $437.6 million from the state for the following two years.University President Robert M. Gates had originally requested an increase of $30 million from the state legislature on A&M’s behalf. “Because what we received was (less than) what we requested, some tough decisions will be made,” Gates said. According to Michael O’Quinn, vice president for governmental affairs for A&M, the proposed budget does represent a 5 percent increase from A&M’s 2004 and 2005 funding of $416.3 million. This increase tops the University of Texas’ 4 percent increase in funding for the next two years. However, O’Quinn said, A&M was hoping to receive an extra $10 million for faculty reinvestment and an additional $14 to $20 million to cover “unavoidable costs.” Unavoidable costs include utilities on campus and pay raises for on-campus workers whose salaries are regulated by the state, he said. Gates said if more funding is secured, it may allow the university to minimize tuition increases.“(It) will allow us to avoid the high end of the range of tuition increases authorized by the regents,” Gates said.A&M’s Board of Regents must make decisions affecting tuition. Terri Parker, the director of communication for the A&M System, said the board will make the decision later in the summer during its meetings in July and August. O’Quinn said that although A&M did not receive as much of an increase in funding as it asked for, the result of the budget proposal is positive. Gates said virtually all of the money received would go toward the faculty reinvestment effort, an attempt by the University to hire 450 new faculty members within the next few years.O’Quinn predicts that the hires made available by the increase in funding will have a big impact on A&M students. “The students will see the student-to-faculty ratio decrease over the next couple of years, as well as an improvement in the research done on campus,” he said.Republican State Senator Steve Ogden was the chairman of the conference committee that created the budget. “I was happy to help A&M,” Ogden said “I hope that the increase in funding will help hold down tuition increases and allow A&M to hire new faculty members.” Ogden said A&M’s 5 percent increase in funding was smaller than the 8 percent average increase for Texas universities. “However, A&M would not have received an increase in funding at all if we had strictly followed the general academic formula,” he said.The general academic formula is the guideline based on number of hours each school administers annually, O’Quinn said. Other schools averaged an increase in hours received a higher increase in funding. A&M, on the other hand, did not experience such a rise in credit hours since the last budget and, therefore, would not have seen a raise in funds without special attention from the conference committee. The budget has passed through both the state Senate and House of Representatives and now awaits Gov. Rick Perry’s approval. Perry can veto the proposal until June 19. If he approves it, the proposal will be effective at the beginning of 2006.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools