![\"TCC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786604189_300_full.png\")
<\/p>\nPam Anglin has been building college budgets since 1994.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anglin, Tarrant County College chief financial officer, knows the usual levers: add a little here, subtract there and separate wants from needs. Raising tuition or fees comes last, as Anglin understands even a small increase can lock someone out of college.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2027 budget is different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the hardest budget that I\u2019ve ever worked on,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never gone into one where, really, it\u2019s like you didn\u2019t have anywhere to turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
During an Aug. 6 special meeting, trustees got their first look at a proposed $429.4 million operating budget, about $14.4 million \u2014 or 3.5% \u2014 above the current budget. They are scheduled to vote whether to approve it on Aug. 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The budget Anglin proposed is balanced for a second consecutive year. Anglin said she reviewed spending line by line while trying to protect classrooms and student services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The squeeze comes from a reduction in state funding, falling property values and pressure to keep tuition and fees flat<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chancellor Elva LeBlanc said TCC is \u201cstronger than it\u2019s ever been,\u201d producing more degrees, certificates and workforce training amid new budget realities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are doing more for our students and our community than ever before, but we are receiving less funding while working to keep the tax rate lower,\u201d LeBlanc said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas shifted community colleges toward outcome-based funding in 2023<\/a>, and colleges statewide outperformed projections past what the state can afford to pay. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board said 2027 formula appropriations total nearly $1.16 billion \u2014 6.5% below 2026<\/a> \u2014 requiring payments to be reduced to stay within available funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n In July, the coordinating board reduced how much extra money colleges receive for certain students. Schools now receive an extra 20 cents, down from 25 cents, for every dollar in outcome funding for low-income and academically underprepared students. Funding for adult learners 25 and older dropped, too, from 50 cents to 40 per dollar.<\/p>\n TCC now expects to get $59.6 million in state funding through the formula \u2014 about $4.1 million less than anticipated, Anglin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Board President Jeannie Deakyne said TCC spent money on salaries, tuition, services and materials to produce the outcomes that the state encouraged. She wants the college to seek supplemental funding from lawmakers in next year\u2019s legislative session.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe earned that funding, and now it is being withheld,\u201d Deakyne said.\u00a0<\/p>\n TCC can\u2019t lean on students to close the gap. After Gov. Greg Abbott called for public colleges to keep tuition and mandatory fees flat in May, TCC reversed planned fee increases<\/a> that would have generated more than $9 million. Tuition revenue is still expected to rise as TCC projects a 2% enrollment increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786604190_190_full.png\")
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