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Texas taxpayers expect that when their money is sent to a public university, it is tracked, protected, and used responsibly. A new audit from the Texas State Auditor’s Office shows that this expectation was not met at Texas Southern University (TSU).
The audit confirms years of serious financial mismanagement, including missing property, ignored purchasing rules, and inaccurate financial reports submitted to the state. These problems were not small paperwork errors. Auditors classified them as priority issues, meaning they pose serious risks to the university and to taxpayers who help fund it.
State Audit Findings Matter to Texas Taxpayers
The State Auditor’s Office reviewed how TSU handled purchasing, property, and financial reporting over several years. What auditors found was a pattern of weak oversight and ignored safeguards that made it difficult to know where taxpayer dollars went or whether public property was being protected.
Auditors noted that many university policies were not followed and had not been meaningfully reviewed in more than a decade. When rules are outdated or ignored, taxpayers lose confidence that public funds are being managed carefully.
The audit examined procurement and asset management activity between 2022 and 2025 and reviewed financial reporting for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Auditors concluded that the failures reduced transparency and made it harder for state officials and the public to understand the university’s true financial condition.
Asset Management Failures Put Taxpayer Property at Risk
One of the most concerning findings involved physical property paid for with taxpayer funds. Auditors attempted to locate sixty assets listed in the university’s records. They could not find fifty of them. That means 83% of the assets tested were missing.
Missing Assets Represent Taxpayer Losses
Those missing assets were originally purchased for approximately $3.2 million. Auditors found that the university had not completed a required physical inventory since at least 2019. Without regular inventories, no one can be confident that equipment, vehicles, and other property still exist or are being used as intended.
Auditors also found that items which had already been sold, written off, or reimbursed by insurance continued to appear in the university’s accounting system. One example involved a university bus worth more than $500,000 that remained on the books even though it no longer existed. Auditors warned that these failures create a serious risk that taxpayer-funded property can be lost, stolen, or misused without detection
Purchasing Violations Show Poor Oversight of Taxpayer Money
The audit also revealed that TSU routinely ignored basic purchasing rules that exist to protect taxpayers.
University departments often bought goods and services before receiving approval, before confirming available budget funds, and sometimes before contracts were in place. This meant the university committed taxpayer dollars without proper review or authorization.
Expired Contracts and Unauthorized Payments
Auditors identified thousands of invoices that were paid even though the required steps were skipped. Many invoices were dated before purchase requests were approved, showing that purchases were frequently made outside established controls. Hundreds of payments were made to vendors whose contracts had already expired. In nearly every case reviewed, contract records did not match the actual agreements.
Although the university later provided some documentation to auditors, that information was not available when purchasing decisions were made. For taxpayers, this increases the risk of overpaying, paying the wrong vendors, or paying for services that were never properly approved.
Financial Reporting Problems Limit Public Transparency
Accurate financial reporting is essential for public accountability. The audit found that TSU repeatedly submitted financial reports late and with major errors.
Texas Comptroller Reporting Errors Affect State Finances
Audited financial statements for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 were submitted months after state deadlines. Even more concerning, unaudited reports sent to the Texas Comptroller contained major inaccuracies involving tens of millions of dollars in bond payments. In one year, bond payments were overstated by more than $86 million. In another year, the error exceeded $77 million.
Although these errors were eventually corrected, the delays forced the Comptroller’s Office to intervene while preparing the state’s annual financial reports. Auditors concluded that these failures limited transparency and made it harder for lawmakers and taxpayers to trust the financial data.
Lt. Gov. Patrick Responds to Audit to Protect Taxpayers
Following the release of the audit, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) issued a strong statement emphasizing taxpayer concerns. He said the audit results were beyond disturbing and showed clear mismanagement of millions of taxpayer dollars over many years.
Patrick noted that the current university president has been on the job for less than two years and agrees with the auditor’s findings. He said the governor, the speaker of the house, and his office have already stopped all contract spending at the university except for expenses needed to keep the school open.
Patrick also confirmed that he requested a Texas Rangers investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing, which remains ongoing. While expressing hope that the university can continue operating for students, he warned that dramatic and permanent changes must occur immediately. Patrick emphasized that millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars are not accounted for and pointed directly to the audit’s finding that eighty-three percent of sampled assets could not be located.
Patrick concluded by stating that Texas Southern University is solely responsible for the situation and that if the university does not fix the problem, the legislature will.
Why the Audit Matters for Taxpayers and State Budget Decisions
For Texas taxpayers, this audit is about more than one university. It is about trust and accountability across state government.
Texas Southern University has faced financial and operational scandals for decades. Previous audits and investigations raised similar warnings, yet many of the same problems appeared again in this most recent report. That history matters because it suggests earlier reforms did not fully fix the underlying issues.
This also matters because public universities receive taxpayer funding approved by the Texas Legislature. Lawmakers who serve as budget writers and appropriators rely on accurate financial information when deciding how much money an institution should receive. When financial reports are late, incomplete, or inaccurate, lawmakers risk making budget decisions based on faulty information.
The State Auditor specifically noted that inaccurate and delayed reporting limited the state’s ability to rely on TSU’s financial information. In practical terms, that means legislators may not have had a clear picture of the university’s financial condition when past funding decisions were made.
Good stewardship of taxpayer dollars depends on both sides doing their jobs. Institutions must manage funds responsibly, and lawmakers must receive accurate information to exercise oversight. When either side fails, taxpayers bear the cost.
Conclusion: Audit Raises Serious Accountability Questions
The State Auditor’s report makes one thing clear. Financial mismanagement at TSU was systemic, not accidental.
For taxpayers, the concern is straightforward. Public money deserves public accountability. Whether the university’s corrective plan succeeds will determine whether trust can be restored or whether stronger legislative action becomes necessary. Until then, Texans are right to demand answers about how their money is being handled and whether future budget decisions will be based on reliable information.
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