UT System Rolls in Dough, Approves Whopping $30.9 Billion Budget

Hold onto your 10-gallon hats, folks! The UT System and its 14 institutions just approved a mind-blowing $30.9 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. That's right, a 9.3% increase in expenditures, or $2.6 billion more than last year. But don't worry, they're expecting to rake in $32 billion in revenue, leaving them with $1.1 billion to spare. 🙄

The system's board of regents, in their infinite wisdom, signed off on this budget extravaganza on Thursday. According to Derek Horton, the UT System's chief budget officer, this budget is expected to bring in $2.8 billion more in revenue compared to last year. That's a casual 9.6% increase, no big deal. Check out his presentation if you want to see the money magic for yourself.

Where's all this cash coming from, you ask? Well, the system's gains in the past year, particularly in research and health care activities, have been astounding. Health institutions make up almost 70% of the budgeted revenue and expenses, largely thanks to hospital- and clinic-related income. Meanwhile, academic programs are scraping by with federal, state, and local sponsored programs, tuition and fees, and state funding.

The system's revenue is expected to be a delightful mix of $14.5 billion from hospitals and clinic fees, $6.6 billion in federal- and state-sponsored programs, and $2.9 billion from state appropriations. Oh, and let's not forget investment income, gifts, educational activities, and enterprises. 💸

But where's all this money going, you ask? Personnel costs, mostly. Horton expects the institutions, especially medical staff, to go on a hiring spree next year. Travel, maintenance, operations, fellowships, and scholarships make up the next-largest costs. Research, hospital, and instruction represent the largest areas of growth. Shocker. 😲

UT-Austin, bless their hearts, is budgeted at $4.27 billion for its fiscal 2025 operating budget — a $452 million increase from the previous year. Expenses are projected to increase by $367.7 million. But don't worry, Horton assures us that the margins have improved for the system’s institutions from last year. Phew!

The board also approved $41.2 million from its Permanent University Fund bond proceeds for library, equipment, repair, and rehabilitation budget projects; $35.8 million for the Science, Technology and Retention Program; and $20 million from the system’s internal lending program or other available sources to fund campus programs. Vice Chairman Janiece Longoria spilled the beans at the meeting.

And let's not forget the UT System's administration! They're getting an 8.1% budget boost, now at $213.9 million, mostly for university lands, benefits, and risk management.

The system employs 122,000 people, graduates about a third of all undergraduate students in Texas, and confers half the state's medical degrees. Last year, the UT System operating budget was three times larger than the next largest university system in Texas. And in fiscal 2023, the system recorded the largest amount in research expenditures in Texas and the second-largest nationwide at $4.3 billion. Must be nice. 💥