North Texas universities brace for tough times ahead on state funding

Article

AUSTIN -- A projected state budget shortfall is casting a shadow over university campuses across North Texas, where burgeoning enrollment and goals of academic excellence could be on a collision course with a potential drop-off in state funding

"If you're trying to educate more students with less money, that's a train wreck waiting to happen," said James Spaniolo, president of the University of Texas at Arlington, which has seen a 20 percent enrollment increase over the past two years and now has more than 30,000 students at the start of the 2010 fall semester.

The budget-cutting orders -- issued by Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus -- affect each campus in varying degrees, but none has completely escaped the impact.

Some institutions are reducing administrative costs such as travel and utilities. Others have imposed hiring and salary freezes and are leaving some positions unfilled. University officials hope to avoid layoffs and a retrenchment in academic offerings but acknowledge that nothing is untouchable in the state's gloomy budget climate.

This article talks about University's in the North Texas area, so Im not really sure how the rest of the countries Universities are doing. The Universities are supposed to save about 10 percent of their funding over the next 2 years.

The article says that Rick Perry and a few others were the ones to order the cuts. I dont know if this has anything to do on the Federal level, but didnt Obama say that "Education is the future?" or something like that? Education is a top priority?

I just thought I would post this as something to put out there. Hopefully the students still learn what they need to. Maybe this counties IQ is going to drop another few points in the near future again?

Edit - I wonder if this is going to increase tutition and book prices?

[edit on 5-9-2010 by buni11687]

Originally posted by buni11687
This article talks about University's in the North Texas area

That should read "universities". It's plural, not possessive.

, so Im not really sure how the rest of the countries Universities are doing.

OK, this time you got "universities" right, but it should be "country's" because this time it IS possessive, not plural.

Maybe this counties IQ is going to drop another few points in the near future again?

Again, this should be possessive, not plural, and I suspect you mean "country's" not "county's".

Looks like Texas education has already failed you...

Edit - I wonder if this is going to increase tutition and book prices?

Tuition? Yes. Book prices? It shouldn't, because the bookstores are generally private companies which are simply leasing space on campus. Most campus bookstores are run by the likes of Barnes & Noble, so state funding policies really shouldn't have any impact.