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After two days of deliberations that culminated Thursday evening with a closed-door meeting with Capitol lobbyists and staff from the governor's office, it appears leaders in the House and Senate have reached a deal on two high-priority education bills.

Altered versions of amendments attached to the budget in the House specifically limiting the authority of the University of Texas System regents survived the conference committee process and remain in the final report on Senate Bill 1.

Texas public universities awarded more than 50,000 bachelor’s degrees in spring 2013, an increase of more than 5,000 from 2012, according to preliminary data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

UPDATED: Sen. Royce West's proposal for a special statewide school district to manage underperforming campuses will have to find another lifeboat. The Dallas Democrat has removed the bill from the legislation he had attached it to after it died in the House.

UPDATED: The Senate on Wednesday concurred with the House amendments to Senate Bill 24, creating a regional university and medical school in the Rio Grande Valley. The bill will now head to the governor's desk.

The Senate on Wednesday gave its approval to House Bill 1009, which would allow school districts to designate certain employees to carry concealed weapons and serve as school marshals.

The next four days will probably be the most critical period in determining the fate of the session's major education bills, which address standardized testing and curriculum requirements, as well as charter school expansion.

Elementary and middle school students will take fewer standardized exams under legislation approved by the state Senate on Tuesday — if Texas can get a waiver from the federal government.

The Senate approved an extension of the University of Texas at Austin's cap on automatic admissions under the state's top 10 percent rule on Tuesday, and members rejected efforts to do away with the rule entirely.

The Senate Nominations Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to approve Gov. Rick Perry's three nominees to the University of Texas System Board of Regents. The nominees must still be confirmed by the full Senate.

The Texas House gave tentative approval to billions of dollars in bonds for campus construction projects on Monday. The version it approved totaled nearly $2.7 billion, up from about $2.4 billion initially approved by the Senate.

University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers was a popular topic Monday as the Senate Nominations Committee had several questions for the three nominees for the UT System's Board of Regents.

Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick announced on Monday that CSCOPE, the state's curriculum delivery system, would no longer offer lesson plans to Texas school districts.

UPDATED: A measure targeting a Turkish charter school network was added to major legislation from Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick that would increase the number of publicly funded, privately operated schools as it passed the Texas House on Thursday, 105-34.

The Texas Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a controversial committee substitute to House Bill 1000, which creates a new university and medical school in the Rio Grande Valley.

UPDATED: House lawmakers on Wednesday put their stamp of approval on a measure that would keep the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in business for another 12 years. But they tacked on a few more amendments. 

UPDATED: After the Senate concurred with amendments in the House, a bill adding restrictions and requirements for regents of the state's university systems is on its way to the governor's desk.

During a tense meeting of the Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations on Tuesday, state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer asked UT System Regent Brenda Pejovich about the controversy surrounding the system board's governance.

A measure by state Rep. Allen Fletcher, R-Cypress, that allows college students, faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns on campus is heading to the full Senate after a committee approved the measure Tuesday.