“I’m proud to share that the Permanent State School Fund has grown from about $50 million in 1994 to $3.7 billion today,” Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks said during a news conference Tuesday at Whittier Elementary School in Salt Lake City.

“This remarkable growth is a result of careful stewardship, prudent administration of trust lands and investment assets, and the foresight of those who established the trust system to support Utah’s education programs now and for years to come,” he said.

The record $111.3 million distribution comes after Utah voters last year approved a constitutional amendment, Amendment B, which increased the amount that can be distributed from the Permanent State School Fund, an endowment created at statehood to support public schools.

Approved by voters, Amendment B changed the Utah Constitution to increase the limit of the annual distributions from the fund to public schools from 4% to 5% of the fund. Last year, before the amendment, schools received about $106 million under the 4% distribution cap.

That 1% change, however, means “beginning in the fall of 2026, schools will have access to even more resources to support students in the classroom, while the fund itself continues to grow for future generations,” Oaks said. “Amendment B helps us to better meet the needs of children today without sacrificing the needs of future students.”

The $111.3 million in LAND Trust funds will support more than 647,000 students in 1,019 schools statewide, distributed on a per-pupil basis, according to the Utah Land Trusts Protection & Advocacy Office.

“Utah’s School LAND Trust Program is unlike anything else in the nation,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Molly Hart. “While other states have school trust lands, Utah has set the gold standard in managing these assets into a $3.7 billion Permanent State School Fund that directly improves education outcomes and learning in every K-12 public school throughout Utah.”

Hart said she’s personally seen how the annual distribution has grown — from $29 million when she first arrived in Utah in 2012 to $111 million for this year’s distribution.

She called that “simply remarkable.”

“What makes this program so successful and powerful is that the decisions are made locally by school community council members and land trust councils that are made up of principals and teachers and parents and grandparents who know their students best,” Hart said. “This ensures that every single dollar is strategically invested where it will make the greatest impact.”

Utah — one of the fastest growing states that’s also known for large families — struggles to keep pace with education needs. For the 2026 fiscal year, roughly 38% of the state’s $30.8 billion budget went toward public and higher education, according to the state budget.

However, the state consistently ranks among the lowest in the nation for per-pupil spending.

Salt Lake City School District Superintendent Elizabeth Grant told Utah News Dispatch the School LAND Trust program makes a “huge difference” by helping provide much-needed funding for schools.

“Utah schools are very good at making due with what they have, the funding that they get,” she said. “So we use the dollars well.”

How does Utah’s school land trust system work?

Four agencies make up Utah’s School and Institutional Trust System. The Trust Lands Administration manages about 3.3 million acres of trust lands in Utah, granted by Congress at statehood in 1896 with the requirement that revenue earned from the sale or lease of the land be placed into permanent endowment for public schools. The revenue is generated from activities like energy development, real estate and grazing.

The School LAND Trust program, housed in the State Board of Education, distributes annual investment earnings directly to local schools and empowers communities to decide how best to meet their needs through land trust councils that decide how to spend the money.

The Utah School & Institutional Trust Funds Office is made up of an independent team of investors tasked with investing the revenue in the Permanent State School Fund to grow the endowment. And the Utah Land Trusts Protection & Advocacy Office ensures the fund’s beneficiaries’ interests — primarily school children — are protected and represented.