THECB advisory panel reviews formula funding, forms working groups on inflation and infrastructure

A coordinating-board advisory committee reviewed the structure and purpose of Texas’ higher-education formula funding and voted to form two working groups to develop recommendations on funding levels (including a possible inflation adjustment) and on infrastructure and deferred-maintenance reporting.

The briefing was presented by Andy McLaren, Assistant Commissioner for Funding at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). McLaren described formula funding as the mechanism the state uses “to objectively and equitably distribute state funding among institutions of higher education,” explained core formula components, and outlined the board’s timeline for preparing biennial funding recommendations to the Legislative Budget Board and the governor’s office.

Why it matters: Formula funding and any inflation adjustment feed into THECB’s recommendations for the next biennium and shape the lump-sum appropriations that general academic institutions use for salaries, instruction, facilities, research and related operations.

McLaren said formula funding can be applied two ways — to set a rate or to fund additional enrollment growth — and that institutions receive money as a lump-sum appropriation and then decide how to allocate it locally. He reviewed the formulas the board uses most often: an Instructions and Operations…