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With rising tuition rates squeezing college students statewide, University of Texas President Bill Powers says the state should do its part to ease their burden with more consistent funding for higher education.

Delivering his annual state of the university speech, Thursday Powers only briefly mentioned Gov. Rick Perry's recent idea to allow freshmen to lock in a tuition rate for four years.

Powers says Perry's idea would give families more predictability paying for college, but he stopped short of endorsing the governor's idea.

Powers said state lawmakers could help students by providing universities with predictable budgets. The Republican-dominated Legislature cut nearly $1 billion from higher education in 2011, with nearly $92 million taken from the University of Texas.

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