It costs an average of 63 percent more to attend a four-year state school today than it did in 2003 — and that’s still not enough to keep pace with bulging university budgets. Some policy makers see the higher education business model on the cusp of collapse.
Economy
Get the latest on jobs, business, growth, and policy shaping the state’s economy with in-depth reporting from The Texas Tribune.
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Economy
TribBlog: Snip, Snip
No surprise here, but still: State leaders want state agencies to cut five percent from their current budgets “due to the uncertainty of the state’s short-term economic future, as well as potentially substantial long-term costs associated with the passage of federal legislation currently being debated in Washington, D.C.”
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Economy
Out of the Race
Texas will not apply for Race for the Top, the one-time federal grant worth up to $700 million for the state. Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott cited strings attached to the potential money: “It was chock full of burdens. Their overall policy was to control curriculum across the country.”
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Economy
The Brief: January 13, 2010
Remember those kids who would do extra homework assignments — without turning them in? Apparently Gov. Rick Perry and Education Commissioner Robert Scott might have just such students.
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Economy
The Brief: January 11, 2010
TV and politics collide this week, but it won’t include Tom DeLay’s dance moves.
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Economy
TribBlog: Unemployment Drops in Texas
Unemployment in Texas hit 8 percent in November — down from the 8.3 percent recorded the previous month and higher than the 5.4 percent registered in the same month of 2008, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
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Demographics
TribBlog: Forbes Says College Grads Making Bank in the 915
El Paso is in the national news today, and — for the first time in recent memory — it has nothing to do with its proximity to drug war-torn Juarez. Forbes actually has some good news about the border city: Incomes for college graduates in El Paso are rising faster than any other major metropolitan area of the nation.
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Demographics
Outbound Brains
Border communities struggle to keep younger, educated residents when larger cities dangle economic and quality-of-life opportunities. They’re afflicted with the reputation of being black holes of talent — where escape is necessary in order to prosper.
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Economy
It’s Still the Economy, Stupid
Sales taxes are down and the recession in Texas hasn’t bottomed, so financial concerns will almost certainly factor into the governor’s race. Ben Philpott, covering that contest for KUT News and the Tribune, takes a look.
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Economy
Economic Campaigning
Texas budget writers are hoping December will ring in stronger retail sales — after getting the news Friday that sales tax collections were down 14 percent from this November to last. The state’s economy is always a hot topic in the governor’s race. Ben Philpott is covering the Texas governor’s race for KUT News and the Texas Tribune. He takes a look at how the economy’s playing so far.