Elite university fund a losing proposition

Texans will soon be asked to transfer money from Texas’ Permanent Higher Education Fund to a new National Research University Fund. But voters should reject this constitutional amendment, Proposition 4, and reject the transfer of money.

If anything, we should demand that lawmakers instead transfer a fair share of these funds to other colleges and universities throughout Texas.

The proposed National Research University Fund would be restricted to dispersing those funds to just seven “emerging research institutions” — Texas Tech, University of Houston, University of North Texas, UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas, UT-El Paso and UT-San Antonio.

This new fund is currently estimated to be worth $450 million. The investment earnings are expected to grow to $2 billion before any of the seven institutions become eligible to receive distributions.

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