When Jim Gallogly became president of The University of Oklahoma, it didn’t take him long to find out that the school had more than a billion dollars in debt.

Liberal Democrats blamed a lack of funding for higher education but the truth is the problem on the Norman campus was poor leadership and reckless spending.

Thanks to Gallogly and the OU Board of Regents, the university is righting its financial ship.

Predictions were that OU would lose $15 million this year but it turns out that both the Norman campus and the Health Science Center campus will be in the black this fiscal year.

The cash position for the Norman campus went from $152 million to more than $177 million while the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma has had a $36 million increase.

This was due mostly to accountability and cutting waste.

 “We are stewards of taxpayers and they expect us to use the money through their taxes wisely and we are showing we will do that,” Gallogly said.

For too long, some state universities have operated independently without much fiscal accountability. This is a holdover from when Democrats controlled the Legislature (and state agencies for more than 100 years.

While OU enjoyed great financial success due to the football program (which uses no state funds), the academic side refused to apply sound budget policy. You don’t spend more than you take in. That’s a lesson that should be taught to the students.

Gallogly is cleaning up OU’s finances and it’s about time. The ultimate result will be a more sound footing for one of the state’s top universities.