A state audit released on Wednesday criticizes Texas Southern University for mismanaging endowment funds and putting the beleaguered institution’s financial future in jeopardy, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The audit found that the university had taken money from the principal of several endowments instead of spending just the interest earned. Auditors could not determine exactly how much TSU spent from the principal because of “poor recordkeeping,” but they found at least $285,934.

In a statement to the Houston newspaper, the university said it agreed with the audit’s recommendations and was taking “corrective measures.” A member of the university’s Board of Regents stressed that there was nothing illegal about using principal funds, but conceded that the practice was best avoided.

The audit is one more blow in a bad-news year for the university, which dismissed its president last spring amid a spending scandal (The Chronicle, April 19). The university increased tuition and fees by 21.5 percent in May, declared a hiring and spending freeze in June, and, just weeks ago, cut 178 jobs to avert a projected multimillion-dollar budget deficit (The Chronicle, August 1).

(The Chronicle of Higher Education)