Texas A&M's quest for higher education dollars went before the State Senate Finance Committee Monday in Austin.

That committee has been hearing about the budget needs of six state university systems.

A&M President R. Bowen Loftin testified before the committee about two top priorities.

A&M Vice President for Communications, Jason Cook, says one priority is keeping base funding so A&M doesn't have to make any more cuts.

The other is enhancing the Competitive Knowledge Fund in which the state gives $1-million-dollars for every $10-million in research generated by Texas A&M.

The state's part of that ratio had been lowered to $700-thousand during the last legislative session.