The Texas Senate approved a $336 billion state budget for the 2026-27 fiscal years on March 25, including almost $900 million allocated to UT over the two years that marks an approximately $32.5 million increase to the University’s allotment.
Unanimously approved by the Texas Senate, the bill allocates about $154 billion of state revenue, with a focus on priorities such as education, border security and property tax reductions. The appropriations bill also outlines plans to support the University of Texas and other institutions within the UT System.
Overall, the Senate’s passed version contains about $455 million for the University for the fiscal year 2026. Prior to the bill’s approval, the UT System Board of Regents requested the Legislature keep inflation in mind when appropriating funds.
“Formula funding is fundamental to providing education in the state,” said Archie Holmes, UT alumnus and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs for the UT System Board of Regents, at a Texas House Committee on Higher Education hearing earlier this month. “We appreciate the Legislature’s efforts to fund growth and are hopeful that as final funding decisions are made, those decisions recognize the inflationary pressures that our institutions are facing.”
Senate Bill 1 contains the spending plan for UT and all schools in the UT and A&M systems, including how much of the funds should be spent on faculty salaries, research costs and staff wages. Funds from the bill normally make up about 10% of the University’s budget.
The bill allocates spending based on the number of students enrolled in the institution and funds some institutes within UT. Specifically, the budget passed by the Senate includes an additional $12 million for the Clements Center for National Security, which is a collaboration with the Texas Military Department. The Clements Center did not respond to requests for comment.
The legislation also sets out a series of benchmark goals that the University is required “to make every effort to attain.” The Senate-passed budget asks UT to maintain its current six-year graduation rate of about 88% and increase its four-year graduation rate from 75% to 77%.
SB 1 works like a regular bill, meaning it goes through the committee and floor debate process and must be passed by both houses of the Texas Legislature. The Legislature is constitutionally required to pass a budget by the end of the legislative session, which this year is on June 2, and the budget cannot spend more than the state of Texas gains in revenue. The bill still must pass the Texas House before it becomes law, but Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project, said the current bill is likely to pass.
“(The budget) is limited in terms of what it can look like,” Blank said. “It has to be balanced and can only grow so much based on population and inflation, and so there’s serious constraints that make the budget conservative definitionally before it’s even written.”
