TCU's 10th chancellor on the concerns of independent institutions in Texas, why it's worth paying a high price for private higher education, and — to a very limited extent — the turmoil convulsing the college athletic conferences.

Athletic conference instability has easily been the most significant struggle of Ken Starr's first year as Baylor University president. Otherwise, he has thrived beyond expectations — something that even his critics happily concede.

We'll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival's public and higher education track — which includes panels on the role research should play at state universities and how to pay for public education.

The Texas A&M University Police Department has released its report regarding the termination of A&M System Deputy Chancellor Jay Kimbrough, who displayed a knife while he was being fired.

This week, Evan, Reeve, Emily and Becca discussed the state of the presidential race, changes ahead in the state Legislature and the Texas jobs "miracle."

Today brings the latest step in the state's ongoing higher education debate: the inaugural hearing of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency.

In a much-anticipated speech this afternoon to the Real Estate Council of Austin, state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, outlined his plan for the development of a medical school in Austin. "This is the moment," he said.

The University of Texas System regents today gave UT President Bill Powers the authority to take any necessary actions regarding conference realignment, another step in the university's possible departure from the Big 12.

Texas A&M University System scientists want cinephiles to know that the scenario in the movie Contagion is a very real one — and that if it did come to pass, they'd have a major role to play in solving the problem.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board wants to eliminate degree programs with low enrollment — like physics. Critics, including many professors, say that could do lasting harm to the state.

This week on the TribCast, Ross, Reeve, Brandi and Jay talk about the recent GOP debates, the death penalty and the return of the HPV vaccine controversy.

University of Texas President Bill Powers isn't mincing words in his State of the University address. He takes head-on the controversy that has dogged the state's higher education community for several months.

The fourth president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on federal health care reform, the difficult budget pressures on his institution and others, the critical importance of academic research and the timeline for finding a cure for cancer.

Depending on whom you ask, the University of Texas is either the 45th best university in the country, or the 186th. Texas A&M? Either the 58th or the 178th. College rankings are pervasive, highly variable — and controversial.

The new president of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston calls the political hot potato "one of the great scientific advances in the history of medicine."