UH has earned respect — and a $1B endowment
California has nine of America’s top 50 public universities. Texas has two. That’s not just a blow to Texas’ swashbuckling ego. It’s a blow to our economy, people and our future.
The problem isn’t just how much money the state devotes to public universities but how Texas divvies it up. The good news is that the Legislature finally appears ready to tackle the issue even as it sidesteps the 150year-old history behind it.
In 1876, a new state constitution set up a Permanent University Fund dedicated to higher education. It can be fairly said that the folks holding the purse strings had no idea how much money they were pumping into the professoriate, as it were, by endowing the fund with West Texas land. The dry brushlands, which ultimately came to 2.1 million acres, were so barren they could barely support cattle grazing and were considered close to worthless. That all changed, of course, when wildcatters found oil.
To this day, only the University of Texas and Texas A&M University have access to that oil and gas wealth. The UT system receives two-thirds of the annual distribution from Permanent University Fund — affectionally known as PUF. In 2022, UT appears to have taken the No. 1 spot from Harvard for the biggest university endowment in the world.
The University of Houston — and its 45,000 students — got none of that payout. Unlike California, which has a single system of research universities, Texas has about 10 systems. Whenever UH, Texas Tech or other schools have asked for a share of the PUF, which would take an amendment to the state constitution, they’ve gotten nowhere.
Will this year be the year that finally changes? We hope so. And every Houstonian should hope with us — and while you’re at it, cajole your local senator and state rep, too.
This session, as the Legislature is considering how to spend a $33 billion surplus, the preliminary budget includes the creation of a new endowment for UH and Texas Tech, setting aside an expected $1 billion for each. Call it PUF 2.0. The schools would have a steady yearly income from the endowments that would allow them to build research facilities, hire more faculty and provide the additional support needed to improve graduation rates for first-generation students.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick gave his support for the infusion in a press release. Tilman Fertitta, chairman of the UH Board of Regents, told us that he’s expecting Gov. Greg Abbott’s support as well. It probably doesn’t hurt that the chairs of the Senate and House finance committees — Sen. Joan Huffman and Rep. Greg Bonnen — represent Houston-area districts.
As we recently wrote, the unprecedented budget surplus is less sunny once all the needs of the foster care system, uninsured mothers and children, prisons, retired teachers and public schools are considered. With all that in mind, using part of the surplus for higher education is a smart investment in the long-term prosperity of the state. It is a one-time opportunity to vault two schools into the Top 50 public universities while leaving untouched the precious endowed privilege that Texas’ flagship universities
have long enjoyed, thereby avoiding any need to amend the Texas Constitution.
In tandem with Fertitta’s efforts, UH President Renu Khator deserves credit for lining up the support, her latest Herculean achievement for a university once known largely as a commuter school.
Since January 2008, she has articulated a clear vision to make UH a Tier 1 university, growing research funding from under $100 million to more than $250 million. Under her leadership, UH helped persuade the Legislature to establish the National Research University Fund in 2009 — a small but first step for the state in catching up with California. It set up minimum criteria to receive extra funding. UH was the first school to qualify.
“I came with the belief that I am at the most important institution in the world,” Khator told the editorial board this week, describing herself in the early days of her 15-year tenure as naive and fearless.
We appreciate this bold, and seemingly preposterous, statement — which isn’t so preposterous if you think about it.
Houston’s economic engine bears the greatest burden — and opportunity — to chart Texas’ path to prosperity, to a future where Texas employers can find the educated workforce they need without having to import it from California.
Without a top public university, Houston can’t reach its potential and neither can Texas.
Khator rightly asked why UH wasn’t already among the nation’s leading institutions. For many Houstonians, it might come as a shock that UH has come as far as it has. From 2009 to 2022, graduation rates have jumped from 41 to 64 percent and the school now has nearly as many oncampus students as the University of Texas, increasing from 4,004 to 8,397 beds.
“If anyone brings up Cougar High to me, I go nuts,” Fertitta told us, referring to the school’s old nickname.
The Cougars’ appearance in the 2021 NCAA Final Four and their move to the Big 12 conference have improved the visibility of the school, which Khator and Fertitta argue is well worth the investment of substantial general funds in sports. UH’s football team will play Texas Christian University in its season opener and later the Texas Longhorns, both at home. It’s a tough season. The players can look to Khator’s steady leadership for inspiration.
“UH has to fight for what they get, while A&M and Texas have it given to them, guaranteed by the Constitution,” said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who graduated from UH in 1972.
We’ll be rooting for UH on every field that counts — from the gridiron to the cut-throat field of higher education funding.
“Cougar High” is gone. In its place stands a proud, growing, top-tier university in the fourth-largest city in the nation. UH deserves some respect. It deserves an endowment that it, no doubt, earned the hard way.
‘Cougar High’ is gone, replaced by a top-tier university.