Materials Science, Engineering, and Commercialization Program

Institutions, like people, have to work hard to justify the confidence and loyalty of their friends and work constantly to maintain that trust.

If Texas State University were a person, it would be known as reliable, talented and intelligent but modest.

The institution's modesty has always been one of its most endearing traits. Texas State administration, faculty and students have netted honors and recognition but don't usually brag on themselves. They focus energy into doing.

The latest recognition is a big one. Last week, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board designated Texas State University as an emerging research university.

The designation means the San Marcos university is eligible to tap into a special state fund set up to bolster higher education research.

The recognition is one step below Tier 1 status, a designation enjoyed by the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Rice University.

Texas State's fall 2011 enrollment was just more than  34,000 students, making it the fifth-largest institution of higher learning in Texas.

The university's growth in the past 20 years has reflected the phenomenal Central Texas growth over the same period.

Texas State has been aggressive in its recruiting efforts in and out of the region. The institution has also been aggressive in achieving status as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

To earn the designation — and the federal money that comes with it — an institution's undergraduate enrollment must be at least 25 percent Hispanic.

To win recognition as an emerging research institution, institutions must offer a wide range of undergraduate and master's degree programs; serve a geographically diverse student population; award at least 20 doctoral degrees per year; and offer at least 10 doctoral programs.

Institutions also compete by raising money from donors. Money from the Texas Research Incentive Program is proportionate to how much institutions raise from their donors. The incentive fund's appropriation for the current fiscal year is $35.6 million.

Donor generosity is one way of measuring an institution's ability to inspire loyalty.

According to statistics ranking seniors' satisfaction with Texas' top 10 public universities, 91 percent of Texas State's seniors rated their experience as good or excellent.

Even though Texas State has a lot to brag about — including being the only Texas institution of higher learning to produce a president of the United States — it rarely does. Founded in 1903, Southwest Texas State Teachers' College was 27 years old when Lyndon B. Johnson graduated with a degree and headed off to a teaching job in South Texas.

On hearing the news about Texas State's designation as an emerging research institution, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini declared, "Wonderful. Bravo. It's about time." Zaffirini, D-Laredo, leads the senate's Higher Education Committee.

Texas State deserves that accolade and many more.

The people who are the university have more than earned them. More importantly, however, they are on the way to earning many more.