Oil boom pumping cash into UT and Texas A&M

DALLAS —

Texas' oil shale boom is pumping cash into the state's largest universities, giving them a financial windfall they're using for new construction and affordable tuition.

The endowment for the University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems has grown by about 70 percent over the past five years as gushing oil revenue has pumped about $1 billion a year into the Permanent University Fund, The Dallas Morning News reported (http://bit.ly/1oXyLlx ).

Both systems have spent hundreds of millions on projects, such as UT-Dallas' $60 million arts and technology center and a still-developing $108 million lab. Other projects paid for with fund money include a $50 million expansion and clinic renovation at Southwestern Medical Center.

"It's a huge game-changer and is something that no other university system has to this extent," said James Huffines, a Dallas bank executive and former member of the University of Texas System Board of Regents. "Just look around the campuses at all the new construction. A lot of it is supported by oil money, and those royalty payments should keep growing."

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/ap/texas/oil-boom-pumping-cash-into-ut-and-texas-am/ngBhL/ .