The presidents of the state's two largest universities are touring Texas, selling their story to alumni and other supporters as they prepare for what is likely to be a tough legislative session.

"The facts are, we are very productive institutions, and we need to get that across to the citizens," said William Powers, president of the University of Texas at Austin.

But he and R. Bowen Loftin, president of Texas A&M University, acknowledged that they are unlikely to escape unscathed when the Legislature convenes in January to deal with a budget deficit that could be as high as $25 billion.

A poll released last week added weight to their concerns, as likely voters said higher education was their top choice for where legislators should make cuts.

Powers and Loftin said they also are worried that efforts to elevate seven emerging research universities — a group that includes the University of Houston and Texas Tech University - ultimately will hurt their campuses.

Already paring down

Both schools already have trimmed staff and other expenses to absorb a 5 percent cut in state funding for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, and they have prepared for an expected 10 percent cut in the next two years.

Loftin noted that A&M now has four fewer vice presidents than when he was named interim president in June 2009, seven months before he was officially tapped for the job.

"That gives you a sense of how serious we've been," he said.

He and Powers were in Houston as part of the Orange & Maroon initiative, started in 2003 by the schools' alumni associations to make the case for additional state funding and made more urgent by the state's looming budget problems. They also addressed the Chronicle editorial board.

As the only nationally recognized public research universities in Texas, the two schools have much in common.

"There's a real perception that UT-Austin and Texas A&M are competitors," Loftin said.

And they are, on the football field.

But he said they also collaborate on research initiatives and together serve one of every five undergraduate students in the state. They receive $1.35 billion in research funding every year, almost two-thirds of funding awarded to academic institutions in Texas.

Despite that, Powers and Loftin said state funding remains crucial for the basics of providing an undergraduate education.

A recent poll suggested higher education could become a convenient target for budget-cutting legislators. Conducted for the state's major newspapers just before the election, it found that likely voters favored closing the expected budget gap by reducing spending rather than raising taxes or other sources of revenue.

Higher education a target

And higher education was the top choice for cuts, far above the other options: public safety, health services for the poor and K-12 public education.

"We're the long-term investment, and the payoffs aren't immediately apparent," Powers said.

A proposed change in funding public universities and community colleges, approved last week by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, could hurt the flagships as well.

The state traditionally has based funding on enrollment. But the board recommended linking some funding to graduation rates, the number of low-income students awarded degrees and other outcomes.

That would hurt UT and A&M, Powers said.

One problem is that the two schools already have far higher graduation rates than other universities here - about 80 percent of their students graduate within six years, compared with the state average of about 56 percent.

They could do better, Loftin said, but it will be harder for UT and A&M to raise their graduation rates substantially than for schools with lower rates.

The emerging research universities are trying to raise their own graduation rates, in part to better compete for additional state funding. In addition to UH and Texas Tech, the group includes the University of North Texas and UT campuses in Arlington, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio.

"I believe in the importance of research universities," Powers said. "The University of Texas and Texas A&M can't do it all. ... But it would not be a good policy to simply erode the capability of UT and A&M."

jeannie.kever@chron.com