Summary of Report 26-704

CHANGES IN FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) LEVELS

Compared with fiscal year 2024, FTEs at state agencies increased by 2.9 percent and FTEs at higher education institutions increased by 3.9 percent. Compared with five years ago in fiscal year 2021, FTEs at state agencies increased by 4.7 percent and FTEs at higher education institutions increased by 17.9 percent.

The FTEs at the 8 medical institutions of The University of Texas System accounted for 56.6 percent of the 5-year growth in FTEs at higher education institutions.

STATEWIDE FTE EMPLOYEE DATA

State agencies reported an average of 151,436.2 FTEs, and higher education institutions reported an average of 219,430.4 FTEs. On average, 98.3 percent of FTEs at state agencies and 39.5 percent of FTEs at higher education institutions were paid from appropriated funds (state and federal appropriations).

LEGISLATIVELY MANDATED LIMITATIONS ON STATE EMPLOYMENT LEVELS

The total state employment FTE limitation in fiscal year 2025 was 221,790.8 FTEs, an increase of 830.9 FTEs (or 0.4 percent) compared with fiscal year 2024.

The majority of state agencies and higher education institutions complied with their legislatively mandated FTE limitations.

MANAGEMENT-TO-STAFF RATIOS

State agencies in the executive branch and higher education institutions with more than 100 FTEs are statutorily required to maintain a management-to-staff ratio of no more than 1 FTE employee in a manager/supervisor position for every 11 nonmanagerial FTE employees (1:11). In fiscal year 2025, state agencies averaged a ratio of 1:10.4, while higher education institutions averaged a ratio of 1:9.3.