Swelling of Texas Tech’s $1B endowments

LUBBOCK – The Texas Tech System endowment has exceeded $1 billion for the first time in the system’s history. The endowment totals $1.043 billion, the 86th-highest in the nation, according to Tech’s office of communications and marketing.

The billion-dollar figure is the combined total for all of Tech’s endowment money collected through the years, according to Jim Brunjes, vice chancellor and chief financial officer for the system.

The actual money gifted in an endowment, from an individual or a corporation, is not meant to be spent. Rather, an institution can spend the investment earnings generated by those funds.

“(Tech has endowments) from 70 years ago, and it’s still there and doing what the donor set it out to do. Seventy years from now, it’ll be there still,” said Scott Cooksey, interim vice chancellor for institutional advancement. “The best thing about endowments, for donors, is it leaves a lasting legacy.”

A third of Tech’s endowed funds has been designated for scholarships, one-fourth is for professorships and chair positions and the remainder goes to supporting research in various academic departments.

Tech’s endowed funds have come mostly from individual donations from alumni and university supporters, according to Tech Chancellor Kent Hance.

Read more at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.