Permanent University Fund - Definition

The Permanent University Fund is the primary funding by the state of Texas to its universities.

The PUF principal in the fall 2000 was aproximatly $10 billion, second only to Harvard's endowment. The PUF serves 15 Texas universities in the Texas A&M University System and the University of Texas System. Other Texas public universities outside these two systems, notably University of Houston and Texas Tech University, are prohibited by law from sharing in the income from this endowment. At one time, the PUF was the chief source of income for Texas A&M University at College Station and The University of Texas at Austin, today its revenues account for less than 10 percent of the universities' annual budget. This has challenged the university to increase sponsored research and private donations.