In his first public statement since being arrested on charges of securities fraud, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in an e-mail Tuesday that he expects “to be fully vindicated of these charges.”
Matthew Watkins
Matthew Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. He is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended Texas A&M University and has spent his entire professional career in Texas journalism, including stints at The Eagle in Bryan-College Station and The Dallas Morning News. Matthew joined The Texas Tribune in 2015 has held various roles, including higher education reporter, breaking news editor and politics editor. He has helped guide the Tribune's award-winning journalism that has included coverage of six legislative sessions, multiple election cycles, natural disasters and political scandals. He lives in Austin with his wife, Susan, and their two children.
Posted in
31 Days, 31 Ways (2015)
State College Aid Becoming Less Accessible for Middle Class
Lawmakers have pumped millions into financial aid for low-income residents and are phasing out programs with less strict income requirements. Is the middle class is being left out? This story is part of our 31 Days, 31 Ways series.
Posted inState Government
200-Plus Lawyers File Grievance With State Bar Against Paxton
Also, Susan Combs finds new life for one of her school efficiency projects and a former Harris County GOP Chair organizes a speaking tour on “key issues threatening Christian values.”
Posted in
Higher Education
To Build Student Housing, Texas A&M Looks to the Private Sector
Texas A&M is partnering with an Irving company and a nonprofit corporation to add 3,400 beds’ worth of housing near campus. School officials estimate it could generate hundreds of millions of dollars.
Posted in
Higher Education
Program Aims to Give College Credit Where it’s Due
Across Texas, tens of thousands of students have earned enough college credit for an associate degree without knowing it. A new project led by the University of Texas at Austin hopes to track them down.
Posted in
Higher Education
New State Goal: 60 Percent of Adults With a Degree By 2030
With an eye on keeping up with demographic changes and competing with other states and countries, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has adopted a new goal: Get 60 percent of Texans between 25 and 34 a postsecondary degree by 2030.
Posted in
Higher Education
UT System: Hall Doesn’t Have Right to Sue McRaven
The University of Texas System, seeking to dismiss a lawsuit from Regent Wallace Hall against Chancellor William McRaven, says in a court filing that Hall is, in short, suing McRaven “for refusing to violate federal and state privacy laws.”
Posted in
Higher Education
Waller County DA: Bland’s Death Won’t Be “Swept Under the Rug”
As Waller County authorities vowed on Friday to conduct a thorough investigation into the death of Sandra Bland, who was found hanged at the county jail, the Texas Department of Public Safety moved forward on a separate inquiry into how arrest procedures were violated in the case.
Posted in
Higher Education
UT, Mexico Sign Deal to Collaborate on Research
The Mexican government signed a deal with the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday that will bring some of that country’s top science and technology researchers to work temporarily in Austin.
Posted in
Higher Education
Former Morning News Editor to Lead UNT-Dallas
Bob Mong, the recently retired longtime editor of The Dallas Morning News, has been tapped as the next president of the University of North Texas at Dallas.
