Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

As we approach this week’s quarterly UNT System Board of Regents meeting, I wanted to share an important update about our university budget. 

This Thursday, I will provide an update to the board about the significant budget challenges we face as we plan for the remainder of this fiscal year (FY 2026) and future years. When the university submitted its proposed budget to the board last August, they approved a $31.2 million deficit budget for UNT for the current fiscal year; however, our most current projections have grown to a projected $45 million deficit.

This projected deficit is structural, not just temporary, and the reasons are multifaceted and complex. In the last legislative session, we lost substantial state appropriations for formula funding to support our instruction and operations, a reduction of $32 million for FY 2026 and FY 2027.

This academic year, we have also experienced sharp declines in international master’s student enrollment, especially due to recent federal policy changes. These declines in international enrollments are larger than projected. While this issue is not unique to UNT, it has significantly amplified our financial challenges.

To be clear, UNT is committed to serve every qualified student who commits to learn with us. So, international master’s students do not displace qualified Texas residents at UNT. Out-of-state and international students contribute their perspectives and talent to our community, and the additional tuition and fee revenue they bring is important for our university budget.

Now, we must take steps to stabilize our budget for the current fiscal year and into the future. This will not be easy and will necessarily include targeted budget reductions that will be felt across the university.

The University Budget Council is working diligently to identify solutions to address our current budget situation. As we move forward, it is vital that the hard choices we make improve alignment across our values, mission, strategy, and priorities. These challenges present an opportunity for us to examine our current practices and make changes that will ultimately enhance our educational mission while strengthening our financial foundation.

As president, I commit to you that we will navigate our budget challenges responsibly, deliberately, and most importantly, with great care and consideration for the implications of our decisions for our university community. In particular, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to the long-term success of all our students. Student recruiting and success will be the primary drivers to help stabilize our budget and advance the university.

I appreciate that many members of our UNT community already feel the impact of our current budget shortfall, and that this situation can create uncertainty and stress across the university. I believe it is important to be transparent with our community throughout this process, and we will provide frequent communications about our plans.

We pride ourselves at UNT on being a values-driven university, and we will get through these immediate challenges together. By resolving these structural budgeting issues, we will continue to advance our commitment to our students, our community, and our state to create enduring value for generations to come.

Respectfully,

Harrison Keller, Ph.D.
President