Some Texas public universities are automatically eligible for fund distributions, and other general academic teaching institutions can qualify if they meet listed research and doctoral-degree benchmarks and the legislature funds the program adequately.
Sec. 62.145. ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE DISTRIBUTIONS FROM FUND. (a) The following general academic teaching institutions are eligible to receive distributions under this subchapter for each state fiscal year: (1) Texas State University; (2) Texas Tech University; (3) the University of Houston; and (4) the University of North Texas. (b) A general academic teaching institution not listed in Subsection (a) becomes eligible to receive an initial distribution of money appropriated under this subchapter for a state fiscal year if: (1) the institution: (A) is not entitled to participate in the funding provided by Section 18, Article VII, Texas Constitution; (B) spent on average at least the following amount in federal and private research funds per state fiscal year during the preceding three state fiscal years: (i) for the state fiscal year beginning September 1, 2023, $20 million; or (ii) for a state fiscal year beginning on or after September 1, 2024, the amount determined under this paragraph for the preceding state fiscal year adjusted by the increase, if any, in the general price level during the preceding state fiscal year, as determined by the coordinating board on the basis of changes in the consumer price index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor or a successor agency; and (C) awarded on average at least 45 research doctoral degrees per academic year during the preceding three academic years; and (2) the legislature appropriates money to the fund in an amount that is sufficient to ensure as nearly as practicable a stable and predictable stream of annual distributions from the fund to each eligible institution and may not be less than the difference between: (A) the quotient of: (i) the market value of the fund on September 1 of the state fiscal year in which the institution would receive the initial distribution; and (ii) the difference between one and the institution's percentage share of the fund for the state fiscal year in which the institution would receive the initial distribution, as determined by coordinating board rule; and (B) the market value of the fund on September 1 of the state fiscal year in which the institution would receive the initial distribution. (c) A general academic teaching institution that becomes eligible to receive a distribution of money under this subchapter remains eligible to receive a distribution in each subsequent state fiscal year. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 287 (H.B. 51), Sec. 13, eff. September 1, 2009. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1131 (H.B. 1000), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011. Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1004 (H.B. 1595), Sec. 15, eff. January 1, 2024.