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“Texas universities propose two-year tuition freeze in exchange for nearly $1 billion in additional state funding” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. As Texas lawmakers consider what to do with an unprecedented $32.7 billion state surplus, leaders of the state’s six largest public university systems are pitching that nearly $1 billion be allocated toward higher education. If lawmakers agree, these university chancellors pledge to hold tuition flat for all undergraduate students for the next two academic years. In a letter sent to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman and House Finance Committee Chair Greg Bonnen in mid-December, the university chancellors asked for more general-revenue funding as well as more funding for university employee health insurance and the program that gives free college tuition to military veterans and their children. “Our education mission is funded almost entirely by two sources of funding: state support and student tuition and fees,” says the letter, which The Texas Tribune obtained Tuesday. “Without increased state support, Texas institutions must look to additional efficiencies and then tuition and fees to be able to continue to maintain high quality education. In order to hold tuition flat for our students and their families, Texas universities seek increased state investment.” The letter is signed by six chancellors: James Milliken of the University of Texas System, John Sharp of the Texas A&M University System, Renu Khator of the University of Houston System, Michael R. Williams of the University of North Texas System, Tedd Mitchell of the Texas Tech University System and Brian McCall of the Texas State University System. Read more: https://www.gilmermirror.com/2023/01/11/texas-universities-propose-two-year-tuition-freeze-in-exchange-for-nearly-1-billion-in-additional-state-funding/

Lesa Benton Roe’s mother discouraged her from going to college. No one in the Benton family — not even Lesa’s older brother and sister — had made it past high school. And her mother, a switchboard operator in Gainesville, Fla., feared that her youngest couldn’t cut it, even though Lesa was a straight-A student. “She was trying to brace me for failure,” Roe says. “But I had an internal drive to be something more.” Fortunately, Roe listened to her father, a groundskeeper for the Veterans Administration who had always regretted not having a college degree and expected her get one. She got two — an undergraduate degree and a master’s of science in electrical engineering. She didn’t really know what engineers did until she got a co-op job at NASA while studying at the University of Florida. During Roe’s 33-year meteoric career at NASA, she broke gender barriers and reshaped the way things got done at the $19.6 billion agency — making operations run smoother and more efficiently. She rose to second in command as acting deputy administrator when she retired in October and headed to Dallas. Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2018/04/27/lesa-benton-roe-nasa-superstar-first-woman-unt-chancellor

The University of North Texas will make cuts of 2 or 3 percent next year to cope with budget shortfalls, President Neal Smatresk told faculty this afternoon. He also said that for the past six years, the Denton campus has spent money it doesn’t have. That information comes from Jenna Duncan at our sister publication, the Denton Record-Chronicle. Jenna is live-tweeting from the Faculty Senate meeting where Smatresk is delivering the bad news. Read more: http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/unt-president-announces-budget-cuts-in-wake-of-financial-problems.html/