Texas voters earlier this month approved an amendment to the Texas constitution to create a new state endowment fund to benefit universities that, initially, will include the University of Houston, Texas Tech University, the University of North Texas and Texas State University.
The constitutional amendment, included on the ballot as Proposition 5, passed on November 7 with 64.35% in favor, allowing up to $3.9 billion to be allocated to the renamed Texas University Fund (formerly the National Research University Fund). The amendment is designed to enhance the research capabilities of public universities that are not part of the University of Texas or Texas A&M University systems.
Distributions Will Start in Fiscal Year 25
The endowment will be managed by the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Co., part of the Texas comptroller’s office. The TTSTC will decide investment policy and future distributions of the endowment in accordance with the distribution policy adopted by the comptroller.
The Texas Legislative Budget Board, in consultation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, will determine how much of the distribution each eligible institution is entitled to. According to the bill, institutions may spend funds on the following:
- Providing faculty support and paying faculty salaries;
- Purchasing equipment or library materials;
- Paying graduate stipends;
- Supporting research performed at the institution;
- Increasing technology transfer, commercialization and patent development; and
- Increasing the number of doctoral graduates.
Institutions will receive general revenue funding from the endowment after January 1, 2024, according to a spokesperson from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The first distributions from the Texas University Fund will not be made until fiscal 2025, which begins in September 2024.
To receive funds from the new endowment, institutions must have spent at least $20 million on federal or private research in each of the preceding three years and must have awarded at least 45 doctoral degrees during the previous three years.
Teachers Receive 1st COLA in a Decade
Texas voters also approved Proposition 9, which increases the pension payments retired teachers receive as a cost-of-living adjustment. The last time Texas teachers received a COLA was in 2013. The adjustment will allocate $3.354 billion from the state budget’s surplus to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and distributions increasing pensions between 2% and 6% (depending on retirement date) will begin in January 2024.
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Tags: Endowment, Jason Smith, Texas, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas Treasury Safekeeping Company, Texas University Fund