On the Records: Texas Lawmakers Well Educated, Report Finds

The Chronicle of Higher Education released a data interactive on Sunday allowing users to check the education levels of lawmakers nationally. According to the Chronicle, most Texas state legislators are well educated — 48 percent have obtained education beyond a bachelor’s degree. (For an in-depth analysis of the findings nationally, see The New York Times’ story here.)

In comparison, only 8 percent of Texas residents have beyond a bachelor’s agree. Nearly half of Texas residents — 46 percent — have no college education. But in the Texas Legislature, only 4 percent of lawmakers haven’t attended college. Eight percent attended a university but did not graduate, according to the Chronicle’s data.

Texas state legislators are also more likely to have attended in-state schools than most U. S. legislators, the data shows. The University of Texas at Austin has the most alumni lawmakers, 36, followed by the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, Baylor University and Southern Methodist University. Most Texas legislators attended public universities. Fewer than half of the 181 members attended private colleges.