According to the audit released this week by the Texas State Auditor’s Office, Texas Southern University has “significant” financial weaknesses. Auditors found that entire departments routinely bypassed established purchasing guardrails and that the university failed to enforce its own contract and accounting procedures. The review examined TSU’s finances for fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025, along with a deeper examination of its financial reporting processes for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
The response from state leadership was swift and severe. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick described the audit as “beyond disturbing” and announced that his office, working alongside Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, had halted all TSU spending on contracts except for ongoing expenses required to keep the university operating.
Patrick had previously requested a Texas Rangers investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing at TSU. That investigation remains ongoing. While no criminal conclusions have been announced, the continuation of the probe underscores the seriousness with which state officials are viewing the audit’s findings.
“It is my hope, for the sake of the students at the university, that TSU can continue,” Patrick wrote on the social media site X. “TSU is solely responsible for this fiasco. If TSU does not remedy the situation, the legislature will.”
What the Audit Found
The audit outlined a series of deficiencies that suggest breakdowns in both oversight and execution. One of the most striking findings involved vendor contracts. Auditors reviewed 60 vendors and found that records for 97% of them did not match corresponding contract documentation. In many cases, contract data that did exist was inaccurate or incomplete.
Asset management was another major concern. The audit found a “complete lack of a regular physical inventory procedure,” noting that the last annual inventory of the university’s physical assets occurred in 2019. As a result, auditors concluded that “significant deficiencies in the University’s asset management functions prevented it from accurately accounting for and protecting its assets.”
Financial reporting also emerged as a persistent issue. Reports were frequently late and inaccurate, with some submissions to the state comptroller’s office arriving nearly a year late in 2023. In addition, the university failed to adequately adjust budget accounts to reflect staffing shortages, further complicating financial oversight.
Preliminary findings released in November painted an even more troubling picture. More than 700 invoices totaling over $280 million were tied to vendors whose contracts had expired in the contract database. Another 800 invoices, worth nearly $160 million, were dated before the purchases were officially requested or approved—raising red flags about compliance with basic procurement rules.
Leadership Response and Acknowledged Challenges
TSU President J.W. Crawford III responded to the audit in a 12-page letter dated Dec. 22 to State Auditor Lisa Collier. In the letter, Crawford outlined a series of steps the university has taken over the past year to address the issues and emphasized TSU’s commitment to reform.
“The University is committed to remediating the findings by the State Auditor’s Office,” Crawford wrote. “As an institution, we are implementing initiatives to improve and strengthen processes and internal controls across all areas of our operations, both financially and operationally.”
Crawford also pointed to severe staffing shortages as a contributing factor. According to his letter, TSU has had roughly 200 vacant positions, including key roles in departments such as IT. He said those vacancies have worsened oversight problems, particularly since the last comprehensive audit of the university occurred in 2006.
Those unfilled positions, Crawford wrote, have “fostered longstanding structural weaknesses that have had cascading effects over the intervening years, driving operational vulnerabilities and contributing significantly to the deficiencies identified in the audit.”
Patrick acknowledged that Crawford agrees with the audit’s findings and has been cooperating with state auditors to correct the problems. Still, state leaders have made clear that patience is wearing thin.
A History That Adds Context
The audit has drawn attention not only because of its findings, but also because of TSU’s long history of financial and operational challenges. The university, which enrolls about 8,000 students and is one of the nation’s largest historically Black colleges and universities, has faced repeated controversies stretching back more than 40 years.
This week’s audit closely resembles a 1999 review conducted by the state comptroller’s office. That review, led by then-Deputy Comptroller Billy Hamilton, resulted in 124 recommendations being delivered to then-Gov. George Bush and Lt. Gov. Rick Perry.
“For more than two decades, TSU has experienced serious financial and management difficulties,” Hamilton wrote at the time. He cited declining enrollment, critical financial audits, potential losses of federal funding, and repeated legislative intervention to address cash-flow shortages.
Since then, the university has continued to face periodic crises. In 2006, former TSU president Priscilla Slade was charged with embezzling more than $600,000 from the university, allegedly using the funds for personal expenses such as furniture, china, and landscaping.
Operational issues have also surfaced over the years. In 1992, the university dissolved its well-known “Ocean of Soul” marching band after several members, including non-students, were accused of shoplifting during a school-sponsored trip to Japan. In 2003, a cheating scandal emerged when a university employee altered grades for 31 students in exchange for money.
More recently, in 2020, allegations of bribery and kickbacks in the law school admissions process led to the removal of then-President Austin Lane. An internal investigation found that students with low academic credentials were admitted and awarded more than $430,000 in scholarships, while cashier’s checks and money orders were discovered hidden under an admissions official’s desk calendar.
What Comes Next
State leaders say they have repeatedly attempted to help the university stabilize its operations. Patrick emphasized that point in a November post on X.
“The legislature has continued year-after-year to try to help the school,” he wrote. “It appears the legislature has been misled over this time period on promised improvements in accounting practices and contracting.”
For now, TSU remains open, classes continue, and students are still attending. But the pause on most contract spending, the ongoing Texas Rangers investigation, and the depth of the audit findings suggest that meaningful change will be required if the university hopes to move past its latest crisis.
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