American state university upheld capital item (4)

I haven't cracked this one yet — but the brilliant team at Fifteensquared have:

U (abbreviation for university), then HAT (capital item?) reversed (upheld = upwards in a down clue). Yes, “capital” is derived from the Latin for “head” and Chambers says “capital” can mean “relating to the head”, but it still seems a bit tenuous to me.