After a review, the state auditor's office confirmed Friday that Texas Tech University and the University of Houston are indeed the first institutions eligible for money from the state's tier-one award fund.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education's latest ranking of compensation for public college and university presidents, three of the top 10 earners come from Texas — and they're actually system chancellors.

Regents from both the University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems are meeting this week, and most observers will be watching for their votes on tuition increases.

Full video of my April 13 TribLive conversation with Dr. Renu Khator, president of the University of Houston and chancellor of the University of Houston System.

Sam Houston State University administrators credit a nationally recognized advising center for moving their graduation rates in the right direction.

Texas Southern University has the state's lowest graduation rate, but TSU President John Rudley says that steps are being taken to put the university on the right track.

The four-year graduation rates at Texas' public universities are staggeringly low. State officials acknowledge the numbers are dismal and are working to improve them. But not all higher ed leaders buy into the notion that such metrics matter.

University of Houston President Renu Khator is setting aside $30 million to bring in 60 new faculty members over the next two years, all of them in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Could the state’s public universities go through the so-called sunset review process, forcing them to periodically defend their existence to state legislators?

Why do Texas colleges hire former lawmakers to run the show? It's because the key trait for a new chancellor is the ability to attract money, both from donors and from the Legislature.

Despite the national media's intense scrutiny of his history of appointing big-dollar donors to high-profile positions, Gov. Rick Perry named two such donors to key boards Wednesday.

In the wake of well-documented budget woes, the state Legislature took a more than 9 percent chunk out of higher education in the recent session. Some institutions have now raised tuition, and others may soon do the same.

The president of the University of Houston and chancellor of the University of Houston System on the status of UH's tier-one efforts, dealing with serious budget cuts, and the value of academic research.

The president of the University of Houston president and chancellor of the University of Houston System on the status of UH's tier-one efforts, dealing with serious budget cuts, and the value of academic research.

The Trib staff on the sweeping cuts in the proposed House budget, Grissom on what's lost and not found at the Department of Public Safety, Galbraith on the wind power conundrum, Hamilton on higher ed's pessimistic budget outlook, Stiles and Swicegood debut an incredibly useful bill tracker app, Ramsey interviews Rick Perry on the cusp of his second decade as governor, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist's quest for asylum in the U.S., Ramshaw on life expectancy along the border, M. Smith on the obstacles school districts face in laying off teachers and yours truly talks gambling and the Rainy Day Fund with state Rep. Jim Pitts: The best of our best from January 17 to 21, 2011.

Every chancellor of a university system in Texas knows — down to the exact, excruciatingly precise percentage point — how much worse higher education fared than other agencies when their current budgets were cut. With the state facing a massive budget shortfall in the next biennium, the chancellors know they're in for another round. But this time they're adamant that they not bear a disproportionate share of the pain.