[8] The university also serves as a notable economic resource for Greater Houston, contributing over $500 million to the region's gross sales and being directly and indirectly responsible for over 3,000 jobs.

[9] Texas Southern University intercollegiate sports teams, the Tigers, compete in NCAA Division I and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

On March 7, 1927, the Houston Independent School District board resolved to establish junior colleges for each race, as the state was racially segregated in all public facilities.

In February 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt, an African American man, applied to the University of Texas School of Law.

Instead the trial court granted a continuance for six months to allow the state time to create a law school for blacks.

[10] The school was established to serve African Americans in Texas and offer them fields of study comparable to those available to white Texans.

The new university was charged with teaching "pharmacy, dentistry, arts and sciences, journalism, education, literature, law, medicine and other professional courses."

The legislature stipulated that "these courses shall be equivalent to those offered at other institutions of this type supported by the State of Texas."

[10] In March 1960, Texas Southern University students organized Houston's first sit-in at the Weingarten's lunch counter located at 4110 Almeda.

[11][12] The success of their efforts inspired more sit-ins throughout the city, which, within months, led to the desegregation of many of Houston's public establishments.

[18] In February 2020, the board of trustees publicly agreed there was no wrongdoing on the part of Lane and paid him nearly $900,000 in the buyout of his contract.

The museum is the permanent home of the Web of Life, a twenty-six-foot mural by world-renowned artist John T. Biggers,[24] founding chairman of the TSU art department.

[28] It, as part of the Black Power movement, was Johnson's senior project, as the university at the time allowed its students to create murals on campus property.

The director of the university museum, Alvia J. Wardlaw, who teaches art history, expressed disagreement with the decision.

[30] TSU is the only four-year state supported university in Texas to offer a Pilot Ground School course and the first HBCU to implement a Maritime Transportation degree program.

[31][32] Jesse H. Jones (JHJ) School of Business is located in a three-story, 76,000-square-foot building completed in 1998 and accommodates 1,600 students in undergraduate and graduate studies.

[37] An extensive set of curricular offerings is provided through the Barbara Jordan–Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, which offers courses in Administration of Justice (AJ), Political Science (POLS), Public Affairs (PA), Military Science (MSCI), and Urban Planning & Environmental Policy (UPEP) on the undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral level.

On January 22, 2018, the university published a new establishment Center for Justice Research (CJR) in the Barbara Jordan–Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.

TSU's NASA University Research Center (C-BER) addresses human health concerns related to crewed exploration of space.

Programs like TSU's NASA University Research Center (C-BER) and participation in The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Preparation Program (LSAMP) support undergraduate, graduate and faculty development while helping to increase the number of US citizens receiving degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

[39] The science center also houses the only doctoral degree program in environmental toxicology in Southeast Texas.

In June 2019 Texas Southern University became home to the region's first Shared Autonomous Shuttle in conjunction with a partnership between METRO, TSU and the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

The shuttle can carry up to 15 passengers and travels using a pre-programmed route, equipped with a sensor and intelligent vehicle system to detect obstacles and avoid collisions.

The Library Learning Center is home to the Thomas F. Freeman Honors College, computer labs, study rooms, tutorial services, an African Art Gallery, The Heartman Collection, and many types of valuable archives.

He is credited for training notable leaders such as former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. while serving as a visiting professor at Morehouse College.

Texas Southern sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (Championship Subdivision for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

Women's varsity sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, dance (TSU Tiger Sensations), cheer, track and field, and volleyball.

The Texas Southern Baseball team competes in the SWAC and plays home games at MacGregor Park.

The Lady Tigers are coached by Worley Barker and assisted by Jasmin Hutchinson In addition to serving as a training unit for TSU students, the station was established to serve the university at the program level as well as Greater Houston by presenting various types of TSU athletic, educational, cultural and social programs to a primarily listening area within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of the university.