HOUSTON — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch an investigation into Texas Southern University after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says a state audit revealed thousands of unauthorized invoices totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Texas State Auditor’s Office has been conducting an audit of TSU since May 2025, reviewing the university’s financial processes, procurement operations and inventory records. State Auditor Lisa R. Collier sent an interim update to the Legislative Audit Committee on Monday detailing “significant financial and operational weaknesses” at the university.
According to Collier’s letter, data analysis identified 743 invoices totaling approximately $282.2 million for vendors whose contracts were listed in the contract database as expired. Additionally, auditors found 8,144 invoices totaling approximately $158 million with invoice dates before their requisition dates.
KHOU 11 has reached out to TSU for comment.
The audit also revealed that TSU has not been conducting annual physical inventories and its official system for tracking assets was incomplete, outdated and inconsistently maintained.
“The Texas State Auditor uncovered significant financial and operational issues with Texas Southern University’s accounting procedures, alleging the potential misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Governor Abbott in an emailed news release. “Today, I directed the Texas Rangers to launch an investigation and called on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to assist them in their efforts to fully analyze their finances. Waste, fraud, and abuse will not be tolerated. TSU’s Board of Regents and all university officials must fully cooperate with these investigations to ensure taxpayer dollars are not squandered.”
“Over the weekend, I was informed of disturbing information suggesting the misuse of state funds,” Patrick said in a statement posted to social media Monday afternoon. “This morning, the auditor confirmed that thousands of unauthorized invoices totaling hundreds of millions of dollars have been identified.”
Patrick said he is asking the Texas Rangers to work with the State Auditor to determine if there are violations of state law.
“Everyone involved must be held accountable, from school employees to contractors, going back as many years as there are questionable records and practices,” he said.
The lieutenant governor also announced plans to contact Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows to agree on budget execution language that would freeze TSU’s current appropriation.
“I don’t want one more taxpayer dollar spent until this issue is resolved,” Patrick said.
Patrick noted that TSU has faced scrutiny in the past over financial management and contracting issues, and has experienced turnover among presidents, board members and school officials.
“The Legislature has continued year after year to try to help the school. It appears the Legislature has been misled over this time period on promised improvements in accounting practices and contracting,” he said.
Collier stated in her letter that she is meeting with university officials on Thursday to discuss the audit results. The State Auditor’s Office began the audit in May 2025 as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 Audit Plan.
“The losers are not only Texas taxpayers, but the students of TSU, having no idea that funding meant for their quality education was either fraudulently spent or thrown away by sloppy, unprofessional accounting processes,” Patrick said.
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