AUSTIN — In the state budget taking shape in Austin, the commuter schools are finally getting some respect, thank you.

Fast-growing, four-year public institutions, such as the University of Texas system's Arlington and Dallas campuses, would see a substantial increase in their formula funding under the two-year, $247.7 billion budget that the Senate Finance Committee approved Wednesday.

The vote was 15-0.

UT-Arlington president Vistasp Karbhari praised the "strong support" for higher education in both chambers' budgets. Last week, the House passed a version that would spend $251.1 billion, including federal funds, that also is highly popular with Dallas-area university officials. However, it offers a different mix of goodies.

"We are grateful for their commitment to enabling institutions of higher education to continue serving our growing population and in ensuring the economic future of the state and its ability to remain a global leader in education, economic development and research," Karbhari said in a written statement Wednesday.

The Senate panel's budget provides $220.8 million more of general-revenue formula funds for the 40 state schools called "general academic institutions."

That would be a 6.5 percent increase over current-cycle spending — $3.4 billion of general-purpose state revenue. The House's budget would add $208.1 million, or 6.1 percent more.

Last session, UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas and the University of North Texas in Denton took budget hits, even as flagship campuses such as UT-Austin and Texas A&M University largely escaped.

This year, representatives of the Dallas area's three main state schools are happy about the increased funding per student.

Of the 10 biggest general academic schools, UTA has seen the biggest nominal increase in enrollment in recent years, according to the state Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Between fall 2015 and last fall, enrollment of undergraduates and graduate students at UTA increased by 5,488 to nearly 42,500.

UTD had the biggest percentage increase during that period — 17.1 percent. It grew by 4,201 students to nearly 29,000.

UNT, though growing more slowly, now has more than 38,000 students, up from 37,175 three years ago, the board's data shows.

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said her panel's bill "is a robust, fiscally responsible budget."

It would spend $116.8 billion of state general-purpose revenue. That's slightly more than the $116.5 billion that the House's budget would spend. However, the House would spend $2.1 billion of state money in an emergency or "supplemental" spending bill. It mostly patches holes in the current cycle's budget.

The final budget package will be negotiated by 10 lawmakers, five from each chamber.

In higher education, the House's budget package is more generous than the Senate's to the Texas Research Incentive Program. It's important for schools such as UTD that are trying to break into a higher category of research universities.

The House would supply $182 million in rainy-day dollars to clear a backlog of TRIP research grants that are matched by the private sector, plus give $60 million to the program in the upcoming cycle. The Senate panel's budget would provide only $35 million over the next two years, with no money for the backlogged projects.

Both chambers' emerging budgets would provide $80 million more for the state's main financial aid program, TEXAS Grants. But they would cover only about 70 percent of students from low- and moderate-income households who are eligible to receive the $5,000 annual awards.

As Nelson announced last week, the Senate Finance Committee's budget would provide an additional $9 billion over the next two years for public schools, with at least 30 percent of that set aside to buy down school property taxes. The panel's January starting-point budget offered just $6 billion.

Other North Texas issues

The Senate panel's budget offers no money for a proposed new state mental hospital in Dallas. The House-passed budget offers $16.5 million for planning and would let UT Southwestern Medical Center, which has said it's interested in building the hospital, apply any unused funds to start construction in fiscal 2021. Local leaders are seeking $238 million for construction.

Nelson said in a written statement that her panel's bill would provide an additional $193 million "to address wait times at our driver license offices." The House's would spend an additional $200 million. Wait times have soared at "mega centers" in Garland, Carrollton and southern Dallas County.

Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, sought unsuccessfully to kill a budget provision that could cause problems for backers of Dallas-to-Houston high-speed passenger train service.

The provision by Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, would bar the Texas Department of Transportation from spending any state funds on the project until Texas Central Railway, the private entity doing an environmental study, shows that courts approve of its ability to condemn land in rural Texas to build the rail line.

By an 8-7 vote, the panel rejected West's bid to remove Birdwell's language.