The Texas State Senate and House unveiled their proposed 2026-2027 state budgets on Wednesday, neither of which include funding for the higher education institutional enhancement fund which provided the state’s universities with $423 million worth of funding in the past two years.
Newsweek contacted Texas’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for comment via inquiry form outside of regular office hours on Friday.
Why It Matters
Texas universities would take a major financial hit if the institutional enhancement fund was abolished. According to The Texas Tribune such a move would cost Texas A&M University $52 million over the next two years, along with around $50 million for Texas Tech University and the University of Houston and nearly $40 million for the University of Texas at Austin.
The Texas flag is seen before the game between the Houston Cougars and the Texas Longhorns at TDECU Stadium on October 21, 2023, in Houston.
Tim Warner/GETTY
What To Know
The two Republican controlled chambers of the Texas state legislature each filed their 2026-2027 state budget proposals this week, with Republican State House Speaker Dustin Burrows describing them as “substantially identical.” Overall, the Senate proposed $332.9 billion worth of funding while the House suggested the slightly higher figure of $335.7 billion.
The Texas Tribune noted that both proposals lacked an additional two years of funding for the university institutional enhancement fund.
Speaking earlier this month at an event hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative leaning think tank, Patrick suggested higher education funding would be linked to efforts to remove diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
He said: “If they don’t kick DEI out of their schools, they’re going to get a lot less.” Neither the Texas Senate or House prospective budgets, however, made this link explicit.
Hundreds of jobs were slashed across Texan universities last year as a result of a law banning DEI programs on campus which came into effect on January 1.
The Association of Former Students, a Texas A&M University alumni group, had made protecting the institutional enhancement fund one of its main priorities for the 2026-2027 budget. They estimated around 775 course sections would be forced to close around the university if it was scrapped.
Went contacted for comment, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent Newsweek a copy of the governor’s proposed 2026-7 budget which he presented to the state Legislature on February 2.
What People Are Saying
Governor Greg Abbott, in the state budget he presented to the Legislature: “Texas continues to outpace the nation in economic growth, adding more jobs than any other state in the nation. In 2024, Texas reached a new high with the largest labor force ever in the state’s history at 15,575,900. The oil and gas industry alone directly and indirectly supports 1.4 million Texas jobs. Since I’ve been Governor, Texas has added over 2.5 million new jobs. We will continue to expand job growth through our business-friendly policies, low taxes, and strategic investments in innovation and education.”
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, responding to Wednesday’s budget proposals: “Debating and passing the budget will be one of the most important undertakings of the session, as it will determine the financial boundaries under which we operate when considering all other major legislation, including school choice, water infrastructure, and more.”
Texas Tech University System Chancellor Tedd Mitchell told the Texas Senate Finance Committee in January: The institutional enhancement fund “has become de facto part of baseline budgeting.”
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp told the Texas Senate Finance Committee in January: “Our universities use that mostly for faculty and to teach our students and eliminating it will have a heck of an impact.”
What Happens Next
The Texas House and Senate will now deliberate on their budget proposals in a bid to find one common position. If the institutional enhancement fund is axed, Texan universities will have to find new sources of funding or make cuts.
Education in the state could face dramatic changes in Texas with Abbott backing a proposed law that would provide $1 billion to create educational savings accounts that can be used to support private school or home-school expenses.
Update 2/28/25, 4:30 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a quote from Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s proposed 2026-7 budget.
