Texas Higher Ed Leaders Express Concerns About Sequestration

By Jordan Schraeder in Promote & Protect, Special on December 4, 2013 at 2:02 pm | No Comments

UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa has joined forces with fellow Texas university leaders on a letter, addressed to the Texas congressional delegation, that outlines the potential negative effects sequestration will have on research and education in the state.

In the letter, signatories from Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Texas State, the University of North Texas, the University of Houston, Southern Methodist University, Rice, and Baylor all lament the impact automatic federal spending cuts—known as sequestration—will have at both the university and state levels.

“Further reductions to the budgets of research agencies and other federal programs threaten critical national investments that grow our state’s economy, support Texas students, and spur the innovation and discovery required to meet future scientific, medical, and economic needs,” the group writes.

Budgetary restraint measures, they believe, will lead to an “innovation deficit,” which has the potential to reduce the state’s GDP over the nine-year period of sequester.

The group also asked for special consideration of federal student aid programs, which help many of Texas’ 850,000 college students attend four-year institutions.

“Federal student aid should remain a national priority to ensure that Texans, regardless of their economic status, have the opportunity to attend college and improve their ability to contribute to our state’s robust economy and culture,” the letter reads.

See the letter in its entirety below.

Texas Higher Ed Leaders Express Concerns About Sequestration

Photo by Mark Stevens via Flickr Creative Commons.

Tags: chancellor francisco cigarroa, congress, sequestration