How Texas pulled ahead in the Tier 1 university race (2024)

Fifteen years ago, Texas was losing the competition for Tier 1 universities.

While California boasted 11, Texas trailed with just three. As a result, we struggled to retain our best and brightest, lost out on valuable research grants and underperformed the private sector’s expectations for marketable innovations.

In 2009, state lawmakers passed House Bill 51, which launched the Tier 1 race, set goals for Texas’ emerging research universities and aligned funding to results.

When a university consistently met target benchmarks, such as spending $45 million on research for two consecutive years, it gained access to a $500 million National Research University Fund. When an emerging research university attracted at least $100,000 in private investment for qualifying research, it became eligible for as much as a dollar-for-dollar match from the Texas Research Incentive Program, known by its acronym TRIP.

The Tier 1 race transformed Texas. Emerging research universities earned more than $1.6 billion for hitting targets. Seven public universities — the University of Houston, Texas Tech University, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at San Antonio — were awarded Carnegie Research Level 1 status. In his January inaugural address, Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated that Texas ranked “number one for Tier 1 Research Universities” and was “now the knowledge capital of America.”

Notably, TRIP became a highly effective vehicle for elevating our universities to Tier 1 status. Since 2009, TRIP leveraged about $400 million in state funds to attract more than $950 million in private gifts, while the National Research University Fund distributed about $250 million. TRIP was so popular with individual and business donors that Texas struggled to keep its end of the public-private bargain. Unfunded TRIP matches now approach $350 million.

With Texas in the lead for Tier 1 universities, our next strategic goal should focus on dramatically expanding our educated workforce. The policy experts at Texas 2036 forecast that 70% of jobs will require a postsecondary credential by our state’s bicentennial. This is good news for high-skills graduates looking for high-paying jobs, but also a warning for state leaders, given that fewer than 1-in-3 Texas high school graduates obtain a postsecondary credential within six years of graduation.

At the Texas Capitol, lawmakers are preparing to launch the Tier 1 race’s next phase. In February, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan spoke in unison in favor of emerging Tier 1 universities. In March, budget writers Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-League City, and Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, released blueprints building on our successes in the Tier 1 race.

These plans will make UNT, Texas Tech, Houston and Texas State the beneficiaries of a new Texas University Fund, which repurposes the National Research University Fund and adds substantial new funding that will provide perpetual, predictable and prodigious revenue.

UT Arlington, UT Dallas, UT El Paso and UT San Antonio will become the exclusive recipients of an existing fund for rising Tier 1 universities. If two-thirds of each legislative chamber votes in favor of these plans and a majority of voters approve a ballot measure this fall, our state’s emerging research universities will receive significant additional funding.

The Tier 1 race’s principal insight was that universities respond to incentives. Texans should be pleased these blueprints continue to reward outcomes, such as research expenditures and degrees awarded, but they may wish that the House and Senate set aside more for TRIP than the initially proposed $33 million. Without an increase, this relatively small sum — less than 10% of unfunded matches — would hobble the fund with the best track record for elevating Texas Tier 1 universities and miss the opportunity to make good on the state’s commitments and to spur private gifts to public schools.

In January, Comptroller Glenn Hegar forecast a $32 billion surplus, $36 billion in new revenue and $27 billion in the rainy day fund. With Texas flush, it seems absolutely the right moment to honor TRIP’s nearly $350 million pledge to private donors and incentivize university presidents to pursue private philanthropy. Short of that, lawmakers would be wise to set a record by investing $150 million or, at the least, match TRIP’s average allocation of $50 million.

State leaders should seize what Hegar called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deliver transformative results before their May 29 finish line. Along with solid strategies for the Tier 1 race’s next phase, a refueled TRIP that stimulates private giving will power Texas Tier 1 universities to fulfill their promise of making Texas the educated workforce capital of America.

Dan Branch is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Dallas and led the Texas House Committee on Higher Education from 2009 to 2015. He is the author of House Bill 51, the legislation that created the Tier 1 race. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

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