The latest higher education news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas A&M University System scientists want cinephiles to know that the scenario in the movie Contagion is a very real one — and that if it did come to pass, they'd have a major role to play in solving the problem. Full Story
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The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board wants to eliminate degree programs with low enrollment — like physics. Critics, including many professors, say that could do lasting harm to the state. Full Story
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A mountainous tract of West Texas land that has been a point of contention between the General Land Office and environmental groups will serve a new purpose — a research and educational area for university students. Full Story
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This morning we've posted a 2011 update to our government employee salary database, which now includes 140 entities and salary data for more than 664,000 public employees. Full Story
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University of Texas President Bill Powers isn't mincing words in his State of the University address. He takes head-on the controversy that has dogged the state's higher education community for several months. Full Story
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The fourth president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on federal health care reform, the difficult budget pressures on his institution and others, the critical importance of academic research and the timeline for finding a cure for cancer. Full Story
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Depending on whom you ask, the University of Texas is either the 45th best university in the country, or the 186th. Texas A&M? Either the 58th or the 178th. College rankings are pervasive, highly variable — and controversial. Full Story
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The new president of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston calls the political hot potato "one of the great scientific advances in the history of medicine." Full Story
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After a decade of conflict in the Middle East, and with a boost from the expanded benefits of the post-9/11 GI Bill passed by Congress in 2008, the college enrollment of veterans is increasing — as are efforts to make sure they succeed in higher education. Full Story
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M. Smith on Rick Perry's allergic reaction to federal school money, E. Smith elicits Ted Cruz's take on David Dewhurst, Root and Ramshaw cover Perry's first presidential debate, Ramshaw and Aguilar poke at Perry's immigration record and how it plays among Republicans, Hamilton on the dash for top status among Texas colleges, Galbraith on an environmental ruling from the White House that got conservative applause and one that didn't, Grissom has the latest on the Willingham arson case and the state's plans to look at other fires and Aaronson's widget for comparing the presidential candidates: The best of our best content from Sept. 5 to 9, 2011. Full Story
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The early results of the latest leg in a key fundraising race for Texas universities seeking tier-one status are in — and the University of Texas at Dallas is in the lead. But there's still more than $1.2 million up for grabs this biennium. Full Story
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Aaronson on the stats behind the Texas Miracle, Aguilar on an area of the budget that didn't get cut during the session, Dehn and Tan wrap-up our 31 Days, 31 Ways project, Galbraith talks to Todd Staples about the drought, Grissom on controversial executions during Rick Perry's tenure (plus a visualization by Murphy and Seger), Hamilton on the Rodney Dangerfield of Texas universities, Philpott on the search for clues in past Perry debates, Ramshaw on Perry's opposition to abortion rights and Root on Perry's assurances to conservatives that his past won't embarrass them: The best of our best content from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, 2011. Full Story
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Don’t look for the Legislature to get in the middle of Texas A&M University’s split from the Big 12 Conference. Twice in the last 14 months, House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has called a hearing about universities leaving the Big 12 Conference — and twice he had to cancel it because the timing was off. In the meantime, the conservative blogosphere let him have it. Full Story
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Texas' institutions of higher education are increasingly looking to outside sources for help tackling low graduation rates. This week, Complete College America announced a million-dollar grant to help Texas handle students who show up to college ill-prepared. Full Story
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A new report by a University of Texas associate dean on the way UT handles tax dollars finds that the institution "excels" in the area of efficiency. Full Story
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The Dallas Republican who chairs the House Higher Education Committee said today that relevant questions about possible changes could be asked and answered in the public arena over time. Full Story
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Confirming the worst-kept secret in college football, Texas A&M University formally notified officials of the Big 12 this morning that it's applying to join another athletic conference. Full Story
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When UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa unveiled his action plan last week, it was national news. Not so when Brian McCall, chancellor of the Texas State University System, did the exact same thing — a week earlier. Full Story
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Tan on coming prison school cuts and online sales taxes, Root on Rick Perry's support for tax increases when he was a lawmaker, Ramshaw and Serafini on what "Perrycare" would entail, yours truly on the differences between Perry and George W. Bush, Philpott on the passions of the Paulites, Murphy and Seger unveil the Trib's Texas Public Schools Database, Hamilton on UT's answer to calls for improvements in higher ed, Galbraith on predictions that the record heat in Texas will be a long-term problem and Aguilar on the legal shootout over gun sales in Texas: The best of our best content from Aug. 22 to 26, 2011. Full Story
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The warring parties in the state’s ongoing debate over higher education reform experienced something new in the wake of this week's University of Texas System Board of Regents meeting: consensus. Full Story
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