By the Act of January 26, 1839, the Congress of the Republic of Texas
set aside 50 leagues of land to be used in the establishment of two
colleges or universities. This land was not surveyed until August 30,
1856, and The University of Texas actually received a fraction over 49
leagues, that is, about 217,000 acres. Most of this land, which was
located in Grayson, Hunt, Fannin, Cooke, Lamar, Collin, McLennan,
Callahan, and other counties, was sold. From them the University
received about $653,000. A fraction of one league remains in the hands
of the University.
The Act of August 30, 1856, provided that income from sales of
University lands should compose a fund subject to appropriation by the
Legislature for the University.
Earlier, an Act of January 30, 1854, which was primarily concerned with
encouraging the growth of railroads in the State, gave the University
one of every ten sections allotted for railroads. To this, the
Legislature added on February 11, 1858, $100,000 in bonds, and one
section of land in ten granted to the Galveston and Brazos Navigation
Company.
The Constitution of 1876 provided the first real basis for the
University, granting the school one million acres from the unclaimed
public domain, providing that the one of every ten railroad sections
were not taken by the University. An Act of April 10, 1883, added
another million acres to this.
The Constitution of 1876 also provided for the establishment of a
Permanent University Fund which was to be composed of all land belonging
to the University and all income from the sale of this land. In later
years, this fund has grown by leaps and bounds as royalties and bonuses
from oil exploration and production on University lands have been added
to it. At the end of 1957, the Permanent University Fund stood at about
$292,000,000. This money is invested, and income from these investments
goes into an available fund from which The University of Texas draws
two-thirds and Texas A & M College one-third for current expenses.