Texas Southern University is facing a state-imposed spending freeze after a comprehensive audit revealed “significant” financial weaknesses, including widespread failure to follow established purchasing and accounting rules. The findings have prompted top state officials to halt most new contract spending and have triggered an ongoing criminal investigation by the Texas Rangers.
Key Takeaways
- A state audit uncovered major financial control failures at Texas Southern University.
- State leaders have frozen TSU's spending on new contracts, permitting only essential operational expenses.
- The audit found 97% of reviewed vendor records did not match contract documents.
- The university has not conducted a physical inventory of its assets since 2019.
- TSU President J.W. Crawford III has acknowledged the findings and pledged to implement corrective measures.
State Halts Spending Amid "Disturbing" Findings
Following the release of the audit, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick described the findings as “beyond disturbing.” In a decisive move, Patrick, alongside Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, has stopped all spending by TSU on new contracts. The university is only permitted to cover ongoing expenses necessary to maintain daily operations for its roughly 8,000 students.
The state's intervention underscores the severity of the situation. Patrick had previously requested a Texas Rangers investigation into potential criminal activity at the Houston-based university, which remains active. The Lt. Governor has made it clear that the university's future actions will be closely monitored.
“TSU is solely responsible for this fiasco. If TSU does not remedy the situation, the legislature will,” Patrick stated publicly, emphasizing the potential for legislative intervention if the university fails to correct its course.
Inside the Audit: A Breakdown of Financial Deficiencies
The state auditor’s office conducted a detailed review of TSU's finances for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 fiscal years. The report paints a picture of systemic breakdowns in financial oversight and control across multiple departments.
Investigators found that entire departments were bypassing established purchasing protocols, leading to a cascade of accounting failures. The lack of adherence to procedure was stark, with numerous examples of mismanagement.
Staggering Discrepancies
An examination of 60 vendors revealed that records for 97% of them did not align with their corresponding contract documentation. The limited contract information that did exist was plagued with inaccuracies.
Asset Management and Reporting Failures
One of the most significant findings was the complete absence of a regular physical inventory process. The last time TSU conducted an annual inventory of its physical assets was in 2019. The audit stated that these “significant deficiencies in the University’s asset management functions prevented it from accurately accounting for and protecting its assets.”
The university also struggled with timely and accurate financial reporting. In 2023, crucial reports were submitted to the state comptroller’s office nearly a full year behind schedule. This pattern of delayed reporting points to deep-seated procedural issues.
A preliminary report in November highlighted further problems, including:
- More than 700 invoices, totaling over $280 million, were linked to vendors whose contracts had already expired.
- Over 800 invoices, worth nearly $160 million, were dated before the purchases were officially requested or approved by the university.
University Acknowledges Failures, Cites Staff Shortages
In a formal response, TSU President J.W. Crawford III acknowledged the audit's findings and expressed the university's commitment to fixing the problems. In a 12-page letter to the State Auditor, Crawford detailed a series of corrective actions the university has already begun to implement.
“The University is committed to remediating the findings by the State Auditor’s Office,” Crawford wrote. “We are implementing initiatives to improve and strengthen processes and internal controls across all areas of our operations.”
The Impact of Vacancies
President Crawford attributed some of the systemic issues to critical staffing shortages. He noted that approximately 200 positions across the university remain vacant, including key roles in the IT department. According to Crawford, these vacancies have “fostered longstanding structural weaknesses that have had cascading effects,” contributing directly to the deficiencies identified in the audit.
It is noteworthy that the last state audit of the university was conducted in 2006, allowing these structural weaknesses to persist and grow for over a decade without formal review.
A Pattern of Problems: TSU's Troubled History
The recent audit is not an isolated incident but the latest chapter in a long history of financial and operational challenges at Texas Southern University, one of the nation's largest historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The issues date back more than 40 years.
This week’s report echoes a 1999 review by the state comptroller’s office, which identified similar widespread problems and resulted in 124 recommendations for improvement. At the time, the review noted TSU's history of “serious financial and management difficulties.”
Over the years, the university has been rocked by several high-profile scandals:
- 2020: The university president was ousted following allegations of bribery and kickbacks in the law school admissions process. An internal probe found that unqualified students were admitted with over $430,000 in scholarship funds.
- 2006: Former university president Priscilla Slade was charged with embezzling more than $600,000 in school funds for personal expenses.
- 2003: A cheating scandal was uncovered in which a university employee altered the grades of 31 students in exchange for money.
- 1992: The university’s acclaimed “Ocean of Soul” marching band was temporarily dissolved after several members were accused of shoplifting during a university-sponsored trip to Japan.
State officials have expressed frustration with the recurring nature of these problems. “It appears the legislature has been misled over this time period on promised improvements in accounting practices and contracting,” Lt. Gov. Patrick said in a statement. The current spending freeze and ongoing investigation signal that state leaders are now demanding definitive and lasting changes at the historic institution.