Prospect of more budget cuts worries Texas higher education leaders - Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Meanwhile, colleges and universities are just beginning to consider how they might trim 10 percent from their state funding. A final decision on whether and how much to cut the institutions' funding won't be made by lawmakers until next year. The 10 percent calculation must be made from a baseline already reduced by the 5 percent cut. A 10 percent cut would cost colleges and universities collectively more than $800 million in the next biennium, not counting about $106 million that would be trimmed from financial aid programs if they were subject to such a cut and $439 million lopped off in the 5 percent reduction.