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Higher education

  • A Matter of Degrees

    by Brian Thevenot

    Community colleges pitch themselves as the gateway to prosperity for lower-income students who've been historically shut out of higher education. Trouble is, despite increasing enrollment numbers, few of them graduate. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • No Experience Necessary

    by Abby Rapoport

    Few members of the State Board of Education have finance expertise. Should we be concerned that they manage the investments of the $23 billion Permanent School Fund? Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Ticked

    by Julián Aguilar

    The worst outbreak of fever-tick infestations in South Texas in four decades has ranchers and animal-health officials scrambling to prevent not just a loss of billions to the state cattle's industry but an outright ban on our cattle. Full Story 

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  • Paperless Medicine?

    by Emily Ramshaw

    Three challenges stand between Texas and the era of electronic medical records: convincing doctors to use them, figuing out how to safely share and protect them and finding a way to pay for them. Full Story 

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  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    by Evan Smith

    Hu explores on the schism between Bushworld and Perrywold and the increasingly curious question of what Debra Medina wants; Stiles goes all Shark Week on gubernatorial campaign finance, with searchable databases, bubble maps and word clouds; M. Smith on what happens if there's a GOP runoff; Rapoport on the sniping between Perry and KBH on transparency; Hamilton on KBH's abortion issue odyssey; Ramshaw exposes the disgracefully low percentage of state school employees who abuse or kill profoundly disabled Texans and are then prosecuted for their acts; Thevenot on higher ed's tuition time bomb; Aguilar on the Latino pay gap; Ramsey on Farouk Shami's "gift" to Hank Gilbert; Ramsey and Philpott on the the Supreme's Court's corporate campaign cash fallout; and E. Smith's interviews with House Speaker Joe Straus with retiring Republican state representative — and future Texas State chancellor? — Brian McCall. The best of our best from January 18 to 22, 2010. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: Paycheck U.

    by Brian Thevenot

    A new study gives a window into the wide variety of ways college presidents get paid. Think houses, cars, deferred comp — and private monies supplementing public funds. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Guest Column: The 2010 Agenda: Higher Education

    by Diana Natalicio

    Low-income and minority students have every right to expect the same level of educational excellence experienced by their peers in more affluent settings. We literally cannot succeed without setting high expectations for them and fully developing their talents. Full Story 

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  • The Tuition Time Bomb

    by Brian Thevenot

    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. Full Story 

    Tuition increases in Texas public colleges 2003 and 2008
    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Latinos and the Pay Gap

    by Julián Aguilar

    In Texas, they earn 35 percent less than their Anglo counterparts — a disparity that's bigger here than elsewhere. Is it because of education, age, discrimination, or some combination of the above? Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Slow Medicine

    by Brandi Grissom

    As El Paso begins to wear the new off its hard-fought medical school, another Texas border community is starting on the long road to establishing its own. University of Texas System officials are evaluating how long it will take and how much it could cost to train the next generation of doctors in the Rio Grande Valley. Full Story 

    Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen
    Credit: RAHC

  • Guest Column: The 2010 Agenda: Business

    by Bill Hammond

    To restore jobs lost during the recession and to prepare for those ready to enter the job market, Texas must create more than two million jobs in the next decade. A key factor in achieving this target is having educated employees available to fill positions as they become available. Full Story 

    Bill Hammond is the CEO of the Texas Association of Business.

  • Outbound Brains

    by Julián Aguilar

    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. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmerich

  • Caven's Quest, Part Two

    by Brandi Grissom

    In 2008, the file at DPS headquarters in Austin still said Scotty Caven III caused the August 2004 car crash that killed him and two others. Officials there had declined to reopen and investigate the case. But his father, UT System regent Scott Caven Jr., wouldn’t take no for an answer. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich