Texas A&M is asking state lawmakers for an additional $55 million in state funding to bring it closer in line with University of Texas-Austin.
UT-Austin is set to receive about $860 more per student from the state each year.
“Changes can be made at the conference committee right before the budget is passed, most folks don't get a chance to be told about it and a couple years later, everybody now knows there was a substantial amount of funding difference between the two schools,” says state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston.
“A&M brought it up as a legislative authorization request, and they want to get at least half of it back so they were closer to UT on equity.”
A&M's president told the Senate Finance Committee the school would have to cut enrollment if per-student funding goes down.