Dive Brief:
- The University of North Texas is facing potential cuts as it confronts a larger-than-expected $45 million budget deficit for the 2026 fiscal year.
- In a message to students, UNT President Harrison Keller warned Tuesday that addressing the situation would “inevitably require hard choices, and the impact will be felt across our university.”
- He attributed the fiscal gap to a $32 million drop in state funding for instruction and operations, as well as steeper declines in international enrollment in master’s programs than administrators had projected.
Dive Insight:
UNT started fiscal 2026 with a budget deficit of $31.2 million, only to see it grow throughout the year.
“Our projected budget deficit is structural, not just temporary, and the reasons for it are dynamic and complex,” Keller said. He said university leaders were working through decisions on specific budget measures.
“Our goal will be to navigate our current fiscal challenges in ways that ultimately strengthen UNT for the long term,” Keller said. “I commit to you that we will navigate our budget challenges responsibly, deliberately, and most importantly, with great care and consideration for the impact on UNT students and other members of our community.”
He added that university leaders would frequently share information about budget plans as they finalize them.
Keller didn’t share how much international enrollment declined. UNT did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
A Q1 report for the university’s board of trustees stated that year-end revenue is expected to fall $14.7 million short of budget projections due to a drop in nonresident graduate enrollment. That’s on top of a $47.3 million year-over-year decrease in tuition and fee revenue that UNT had already budgeted for in August because of anticipated declines in international enrollment, which began in 2024.
In fall 2024, foreign students comprised more than 15% of the university’s student body, according to the latest stats from UNT.
Unlike many regional public universities, UNT’s overall enrollment had largely been on the rise in recent years. Between 2019 and 2024, fall enrollment increased about 19% to 46,864 students, according to federal data.
But last fall, headcount dropped by 5.7%, or a little over 2,600 students — one of the largest declines among Texas public colleges, according to data from the state’s higher education coordinating board.
UNT budgeted for a $16 million loss in state formula funding for fiscal 2026 because of declining enrollment.
Faculty and staff in recent years have expressed frustration over their pay and a lack of raises amid ongoing budget pressures.
“The problem is not that they cannot give raises this year,” one unnamed faculty member told the North Texas Daily, the university’s student newspaper, last September. “The problem is, all the other years where they had not as many budgetary problems and they didn't give raises. And the problem is the lack of transparency about it and the lack of planning.”
