The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.
TEXAS Grants, the state’s primary need-based financial aid program for college students, could get a major retooling next session if lawmakers follow new recommendations by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Full Story
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The state policy that waives tuition and fees for veterans and their families may get tweaked in the upcoming legislative session. It has been a hot topic for universities that support it in principle, but lose millions on it each year. Full Story
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On Oct. 15, I talked with retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, about health care, higher education, Rick Perry and assorted highlights of her nearly 20 years in office. Full Story
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The higher education background of state Sen. Kel Seliger, the new Senate Higher Education Committee chairman, is pretty thin, particularly when compared with that of his predecessor. But he says he's "learning a lot very rapidly." Full Story
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Updated: The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a new systemwide partnership on Monday with edX, a high profile provider of free online courses. Full Story
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This week, MyEdu, an Austin-based company that received a $10 million investment from the University of Texas System, announced that it would offer new services to help students find employment. Full Story
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Despite Gov. Rick Perry's prediction that no such bill would reach his desk, state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, said he intends to continue his effort to end the state's policy of offering in-state tuition to some illegal immigrants. Full Story
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How to define a “critical mass” of minority students was the question of the day on Wednesday during a heated Supreme Court oral argument on the consideration of race in the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions processes. Full Story
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The law should allow all universities to pursue diverse classes of excellent students, for the sake of the students and the quality of their educations, for the sake of a society still striving to bestow opportunity more equally across its many populations, and for the sake of healthy businesses and all of the benefits they contribute to society. Full Story
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It has now become clear that race-preference admission programs typically do not operate to the preferred student’s advantage. Their relatively poor qualification — of which they are often unaware — usually leads to relatively poor performance, the bottom portion of the class and an increased dropout rate. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral arguments in Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin, a lawsuit related to the use of race in university admissions policies. Full Story
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The University of Texas at Austin's use of race as a factor in some admissions decisions is being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court this week. What will happen to the admissions process if UT loses the case? Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry says he is against repeal of in-state tuition for American-born children of immigrants living here illegally, but will Texas legislators go along with him? Full Story
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After losing her role as chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said she is "not disheartened" and will continue to make higher education a priority. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry on Monday renewed a call for 10 percent of state higher education funding to be based on institutions' graduation totals. House Higher Ed Chairman Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, wants to take that proposal even further. Full Story
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At the 2012 Texas Tribune Festival, I interviewed the chancellors of the state's six public university systems about the future of higher education. Full Story
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UPDATED: Gov. Rick Perry on Monday proposed requiring public universities to inform incoming students upfront about how much their degrees will cost relative to how long it takes them to graduate. Full Story
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Texas has 148 public and private colleges and universities but no single source for easily finding statistics about how well they perform. This easy-to-navigate interactive database lets you explore key academic, enrollment and cost records on all of Texas' institutions of higher learning. Full Story
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As with Gov. Rick Perry’s $10,000 degree proposal, his latest call for reducing the price of college — locking in tuition for four years — may prove difficult to implement uniformly in a state as diverse as Texas. Full Story
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University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers said he was "heartened" by the statewide discussion on locking in students' tuition rates for four years, and he called on the state to similarly lock in funding for public universities. Full Story
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