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The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.

  • TribBlog: McCall's Off to College [updated]

    by Ross Ramsey

    Brian McCall will apparently be the next chancellor of the Texas State University System. The board of regents picked the state representative, a Plano Republican, as the sole finalist to replace Charles Matthews in that job. They made the announcement on Monday. Full Story 

    State Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano
    Credit: House photo

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    by Ross Ramsey

    Thevenot on the non-stop wonder that is the State Board of Education and its latest efforts to set curriculum standards, E. Smith's post-election sit-down interview with Bill White at TribLive made some news and got the November pugilism started, Ramshaw on whether it makes sense for the state to call patients and remind them to take their pills, and on the state's botched attempt to save baby blood samples for medical research, Hamilton's interview with Steve Murdock on the state's demographic destiny, M. Smith on whooping cranes, fresh water, and an effort to use the endangered species act to protect them both, Grissom on potties, pickups, and other equipment purchased with federal homeland security money and Stiles' latest data and map on where that money went, Aguilar on the "voluntary fasting" protesting conditions and treatment at an immigrant detention facility, Kreighbaum on football, the new sport at UTSA, and Philpott on Rick Perry and Bill White retooling their appeals for the general election. The best of our best from March 8 to 12, 2010. Full Story 

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  • "We're Outnumbered"

    by Brian Thevenot

    At Thursday's State Board of Education meeting, as conservatives had their way with social studies standards, voting to limit the discussion of race and gender issues and to challenge the notion of separation of church and state, Democratic members were left to sulk and seethe — and walk out. Full Story 

    Barbara Cargill
    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • 2010: White Starts the Argument [Updated]

    by Ross Ramsey

    Democrat Bill White said he won't rely on "Soviet-style budgeting" and "hot air politics" if he's elected governor, and said the state should make education its first priority and would be better off with a governor who's got business experience when it comes to economic development. Full Story 

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    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • The Old College Try

    by Brian Thevenot

    Since 1999, the number of "dual-credit" students — those who take college courses while still in high school — across Texas has ballooned from fewer than 12,000 to more than 91,000. It's a trend that's likely to continue as state and local policymakers search for ways to better align curricula and to push more kids to continue their education. “Schools have started to look at it as great for kids who might not have thought they were college material,” says an official at the Higher Education Coordinating Board. “It’s both a gifted-and-talented program and a college-accessibility program.” Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Trading Places

    by Julián Aguilar

    Texas, that famous bastion of conservatism, has become a leading exporter of agricultural products to communist Cuba — second only to Louisiana among the 50 states. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • A Better App: Public Employee Pay

    by Matt Stiles and Niran Babalola

    Find the salaries of more than 340,000 public employees with our enhanced data application, including those working at the largest state agencies as well as individual public schools, cities and mass-transit operators. And universities: Did you know, for instance, that of the 10 highest-paid professors at the state's two largest universities, nine are Aggies? Full Story 

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    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller, Jacob Villanueva

  • From Bust to Boom

    by Brian Thevenot

    The recession has caused a spike in enrollment at two-year schools like Austin Community College, which now educates more than 40,000 students — within striking distance of the great behemoth, the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    by Evan Smith

    Thevenot on the abysmally low community college graduation rate and higher ed's coming budgetary winter. Ramshaw on Terri Hodge's guilty plea and hasty exit. Grissom on the Department of Public Safety's use of dreaded federal stimulus funds to plug a hole in the state's border security budget. Hu on the first of the intraparty face-offs in our Primary Color series. Ramsey and Stiles on the congressional candidates with the most money on hand. Ramsey on whether Farouk Shami's accent and name are an obstacle to his election. Aguilar on the fever-tick epidemic overwhelming South Texas. Rapoport on TxDOT's hard road and the State Board of Education's lack of finance expertise. Philpott on how Barack Obama's budget will impact Texas. M. Smith on whether lawyers giving to judges is a good thing. Hamilton on the latest transportation innovations on the drawing board. The best of our best from February 1 to 5, 2010. Full Story 

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  • Burned Orange

    by Brian Thevenot

    A clash over a beloved campus music club at UT-Austin portends the gnashing of teeth at schools statewide as a budgetary winter threatens to envelop higher education. Full Story 

    Bill Powers speaks about budget cuts at The University of Texas on Tuesday, February 2nd.
    Credit: Jacqueline Mermea

  • 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