Texas State University says it needs $107 million to build an engineering and science building at its San Marcos campus and $67.5 million for a health professions building in Round Rock.

The University of Texas is seeking $100 million for renovating a chemistry building and $105 million for business school upgrades.

Texas A&M University hopes to get $85 million for a biocontainment lab to study disease-causing organisms and $90 million for a new classroom building and renovations.

These are among dozens of construction projects for which state universities and certain other public institutions of higher learning have requested bond funding from the Legislature. It remains to be seen whether lawmakers will be in a borrowing mood when the legislative session begins in January — and, if so, how much money they want to spend.

Lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a package of about $2.7 billion in construction bonds during last year’s session, largely because of turf battles over how much would be allocated to the various schools. Gov. Rick Perry declined to add such bonds to the legislative to-do list during three subsequent special sessions.

The bonds are technically known as tuition revenue bonds because the schools agree to pay back the principal and interest with tuition, but the Legislature’s historical practice has been to cover the debt with general revenue.

Lawmakers last approved a major round of tuition revenue bonds in 2006 for $1.9 billion. University officials say aging infrastructure and growing enrollments have made the need for construction and remodeling urgent.

“Space needs have reached a critical level for our Ingram School of Engineering and our College of Health Professions,” said Gene Bourgeois, Texas State’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The effect of this space shortage not only impacts our ability to add or expand programs crucial to our mission and needed by the state of Texas, in the case of our engineering school it is forcing us to plan to limit the number of students we can serve, in the face of dramatically higher demand.”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has listed approval of such bonds as one of its top legislative recommendations.

“The need for space has increased by 23 million gross square feet since 2006,” said Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, the agency’s chief executive. “We estimate the projected cost to meet the full need is somewhere around $6.2 billion.”

State Sen. Kel Seliger, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, said, “Almost every institution has some needs. I think the wish list probably comes to about $4.5 billion.”

More than 50 public universities, health-related institutions, state colleges and technical colleges are eligible to seek such aid. Tuition revenue bonds aren’t an option for the state’s 50 community college districts, which, unlike the other public schools, impose property taxes.

Seliger, R-Amarillo, said he would introduce bond legislation soon after bill-filling begins Nov. 10.

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, who also plans to submit a bill, said she would prefer that the Legislature fund the projects with cash — either general revenue or money from the rainy day fund. But she said it’s too early to tell which way the Legislature might lean — assuming lawmakers decide to fund higher education construction projects at all.

“A large part of it,” Zaffirini said, “will be based on how informative and persuasive education leaders will be.”