Even with a blueprint in place allowing Texas Tech and six other emerging research universities the chance to become national research institutions, the finish line could be years away.
But at least now the universities understand how to get there, thanks to the passing of House Bill 51, which specifically identifies how the universities can earn state money necessary to support top-notch research.
The time frame for one of the seven state universities actually reaching this level has been estimated by school officials and Texas lawmakers to be anywhere from four to 10 years.
So it won't be easy, which is what Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, intended.
"House Bill 51 was the most significant higher education bill that we've passed in many years, but this sets the bar," Duncan said. "House Bill 51 defines what we want our research institutions to look like and to achieve."
The legislation was passed during the recent legislative sessions in Austin, and has been sent to Gov. Rick Perry with a deadline of June 22 to sign or veto the bill. Perry also can let the legislation pass if he chooses not to sign it.
If Perry approves, then a constitutional amendment will need to be voted on and passed by Texas voters in November to replace the Permanent Higher Education Fund with the National Research University Fund - the most important of the four programs introduced through HB 51.
"If Texas Tech can meet the requirements in the next four to five years," Tech Chancellor Kent Hance said. "That's gonna put a lot of pressure on us to do things and do them aggressively to make sure that we meet the criteria on the emerging university funds for the national research university fund legislation that passed."
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will administer how the benchmarks of the National Research University Fund are met. Those benchmarks include whether the institution has a Phi Beta Kappa Chapter, the number of doctor of philosophy degrees awarded, the amount spent in restricted research funds in each of two years, the average score on the SAT of entering freshman, the percentage of entering freshman students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class and the aggregate value of the institution's endowment funds for educational and general use.
Tech already has a Phi Beta Kappa Chapter and a respectable endowment of $700 million with the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center included, Hance said, and for undergraduate, endowment has dipped to $350 million because of the economic market after being as high as $415 million.
"We hope that will be coming back," Hance said. "We have the most in endowment, along with Houston."
An integral part of a national research institute's portfolio is the amount of federal research grants awarded annually, which is at least $100 million. Hance said Tech is at $57 million with restricted research at about $27 million at the moment.
"I want to make everyone understand, Texas Tech is tops in teaching right now," he said. "We have excellent educational programs and teaching programs. Where we're trying to get to the tier-one status is in research. Research, we wanna get to $100 million a year that we're doing in research."
Duncan said the nearly $500 million already in the fund is not enough, but with the universities taking at least four years before reaching tier-one status, he hopes the amount enters the $2 billion realm by then.
"That fund will spin off about $25 million a year, so we would be eligible for that," Hance said.
Texas has three national tier-one research universities: the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Rice University. Alongside Tech as the emerging research universities in the state are the University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at El Paso, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Houston and University of North Texas.
"I believe Texas Tech, Houston and Dallas are probably, if you look at any of the criteria we could've selected or the criteria we did select, those three institutions would be running neck-and-neck with each other," Duncan said of the universities most likely to reach tier-one status first.
In comparison, California has nine tier-one schools, including private universities, and Virginia - with a population of 7 million people - has three tier-one schools, according to a legislative report.
The report shows that with a population of 24 million and only two public, flagship universities, Texas struggles with attracting and keeping top talent, which limits the research and total money brought into the state.
If Tech ends up reaching tier-one status, the result could benefit Lubbock's economy.
According to a bill analysis, economists estimate that every $10 million in annual research spending creates about 334 jobs, adding $8.6 million in wages to the regional economy. After drawing $500,000 in added state and tax revenue and generating $13.5 million in local sales, the total amount results in a 226 percent return on investment, according to the report.
"Texas Tech is the number one economic engine for this region of the state," Duncan said, "and when we bring in talent and research, we also bring in the ability to market that research."
The legislation established three other funding methods to help these schools achieve tier-one status as quickly as possible: the Texas Research Incentive Program, the Performance Incentive Fund and the Research University Development Fund. These funds would not be distributed until 2010 and 2011.
The Research University Development Fund includes not only the seven emerging universities but also Texas and Texas A&M.
Performance Incentive Funding allows any university in the state to receive money when it graduates at-risk students and students in critical fields of work.
The Research Incentive Program, TRIP, allows the state to match private gifts received by the institutions under certain circumstances. For a total gift between $100,000 and $999,999, the state will match 50 percent. For a gift between $1 million and $2 million, the state will match 75 percent. Any gift above $2 million will essentially be doubled with the state matching 100 percent.
"This long-term commitment to research growth will enable us to develop the world class research programs needed for Texas Tech University to achieve tier-one status," said Tech Board of Regents Chairman Larry Anders in a statement released by the university. "Now it's up to us."
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