89th Legislative Session Priorities
Texas A&M actively pursues state support to fuel groundbreaking research, transformative innovation, and educational excellence, working alongside policymakers to address critical national issues, empower communities, and promote economic progress with a steadfast focus on leadership and impact.
Legislative Appropriations Request FY 26-27
Submitted to the Governor’s Office of Budget, Planning and Policy and the Legislative Budget BoardLearn how Texas A&M University is addressing unprecedented growth, maintaining academic excellence, and supporting Texas's workforce needs while requesting critical funding to sustain these efforts—read the full funding request details here.
View RequestSpecific Funding Requests
Formula funding is foundational for all higher education, regardless of size, and we urge the state to remain committed to providing this support at a level that keeps pace with enrollment growth and inflation. Texas A&M will continue to be responsible stewards of these dollars as it strives to manage the challenges of record growth. This growth is due to the unwavering demand for a Texas A&M degree from highly qualified prospective students and widespread demand for Texas A&M graduates from industries critical to the state’s growth and prosperity.
Citizenship & Service Program
The university is in the process of establishing a Citizenship & Service Program to inspire Aggies to embody the core values of Texas A&M and to actively contribute to the betterment of the state and nation through academic achievement, civic engagement, and community service. This program will further advance the university’s efforts to develop well-rounded Aggies who make a positive impact at the local, state national and global levels, and endeavor to serve as a model for other universities to emulate.
Capital Request: TAMU Educational and Academic Classroom Hall (TEACH) on West Campus
The university’s CCAP request will fund the design and construction of a 108,000 square foot academic facility which will house 10-12 medium and large classrooms, faculty offices, academic support services space, and much needed student study space. This new building will serve approximately 16,000-18,000 students per week.
Colonias Program
The vision of the Colonias Program (COLN) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) is to serve Texas' most isolated and economically distressed rural communities, where most residents live without one or more major infrastructure sources such as basic access to potable water. COLN seeks to enhance the quality of life for Texas residents that live in these distressed communities.
Cyclotron Institute
The CI has recently been named a member of the DOE University Isotope Network. Through this program, methods of production for medically important radioisotopes will be pursued, resulting in new knowledge, increased availability of these isotopes and students trained in radiochemistry.
Energy Resource Program
The ERP accelerates advanced and emerging technologies in both renewable and traditional sources of energy by cultivating innovative strategies to maintain the State’s leadership in wind power, renewable energy technologies, natural gas production and distribution, and critical issues associated with water use and energy production.
Restore Institutional Enhancement
Institutional enhancement funds support the salaries of instructors for additional class sections as well as staff for student success initiatives, all dedicated to reducing time-to-degree and student debt levels, increasing graduation and retention rates, and attracting top-tier students to Texas A&M.
Meeting the State's Demand for a Texas A&M STEM Degree
This support will provide for additional faculty and student support services in STEM-related degrees to enable the university to continue to meet the demand of students, their families and the market, while driving continued economic growth in the State of Texas.
Sea Grant Program
This unique partnership unites the resources of the federal government, the State of Texas, industry, and universities across the state to create knowledge, innovative tools, products, and services that benefit the economy and environment. Texas Sea Grant yields a 24:1 return on investment for every state dollar invested.
Veterinary Emergency Team
The Veterinary Emergency Team at Texas A&M provides critical disaster response and animal care, supporting communities during crises while offering hands-on training for students and advancing veterinary emergency preparedness and resilience.
Virtual Production Institute
The Virtual Production Institute (VPI) focuses on the uses of visual computing and interactive technologies across multiple industries. The teaching, research, and production aspects of the VPI enable computer science, human-computer interaction, and performance technology to blend together to address emerging applications of technology and workforce needs across multiple sectors of the state and national economy .
High Priority Requests
of the Texas A&M University SystemTexas’ future depends on a well-educated population and strong workforce. A robust higher education sector is the key to ensuring the long-term economic growth and resiliency of our state. The 88th Legislature recognized this importance by making historic investments in higher education, including several key base funding streams – formulas, performance funding for comprehensive regional universities (CRUs), higher education group health insurance, and reimbursement for Hazlewood Legacy students. We appreciate this investment but continue to face challenges such as high inflation as we strive to meet the increasing needs of today’s college student . Preservation of the strategic investments made by the legislature last session coupled with additional ongoing investment in higher education is essential to maintain our service to the state. Key funding issues are detailed below:
Maintaining an equitable, reliable, and predictable source of funding for higher education is critical to allow our institutions to plan, teach, and support our students through to graduation and a successful entrance into the workforce. The state provides this base funding through both formula and non-formula support.
Formula funding, which accounts for the majority of our institutions’ net GR appropriations, supports the core instructional, operational and infrastructure costs at our institutions. Our highest priority is additional funding in the formulas to cover student enrollment growth and address cost increases and inflation to offset pressure on tuition, building on last session’s investment into the formulas.
Until formula funding can keep pace with enrollment growth, inflation, and cost increases, non-formula support remains a critical source of base funding. Moreover, as needs for student services grow, non-formula items increasingly serve as an important source of support for our students and academic programs. We request that non-formula support items be maintained at current levels in the upcoming biennium in order to maintain vital academic programs and student support services.