Higher education leaders in Texas have been pushing for more pathways to college degrees for Texas. Today, Gov. Rick Perry, along with higher education committee chairs Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, announced a new one: Western Governors University Texas.
Higher Education
Coverage of universities, colleges, student issues, and education policy shaping Texas’ campuses, from The Texas Tribune.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson examines the Texas jobs “miracle,” Root on how Rick Perry built his financial portfolio, Tan and Wiseman on Perry vs. Ron Paul, Philpott on how budget cuts will affect a mental health provider, yours truly on a House freshman who was less than impressed with his first legislative experience, M. Smith on public schools charging for things that used to be free, Hamilton on a new call to reinvent higher education, Grissom on a rare stay of execution, Galbraith on the end of a Panhandle wind program, Aguilar on the increase of legal immigration into the U.S. and Texas: The best of our best content from July 25 to 29, 2011.
Paredes: “We Need to Reinvent Public Higher Ed”
Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes said Tuesday that the state was coming to “the painful realization that improving access is not enough” and that the time had come to “reinvent public higher education.”
Guest Column: A Bottom-Line Focus Would Harm Texas’ Top Universities
The business community, particularly the entrepreneur, has much to offer academia, but a narrow focus on the bottom line is a sure way of destroying Texas’ top public universities.
Texplainer: Will Budget Cuts Mean Higher University Tuition?
In the wake of well-documented budget woes, the state Legislature took a more than 9 percent chunk out of higher education in the recent session. Some institutions have now raised tuition, and others may soon do the same.
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramshaw on the lioness of the Texas House, Dehn and Tan review 20 years of Rick Perry’s political ads, Murphy’s latest database includes the governor’s political accounts over the last decade, Aaronson’s visualizations of what was said in the biggest legislative debates, M. Smith on the woman in the middle chair at the State Board of Education, Galbraith on how the drought is forcing ranchers to sell their herds, Grissom has the story on a cattle rustler who’s asking the courts to give him an old-fashioned sentence, Hamilton covers Rick O’Donnell’s latest salvo at higher education, Aguilar on whether and how the sanctuary cities issue will translate at the ballot box next year, yours truly on Ron Paul’s candidacy and the candidate in his own words: The best of our best from July 18 to 22, 2011.
Updated: O’Donnell Responds to Criticism from UT
When Rick O’Donnell, a controversial former adviser to the University of Texas System, released an analysis of faculty data from University of Texas and Texas A&M, he anticipated that it might receive criticism. He was right.
Guest Column: Seven Breakthrough Distractions
If we are serious about higher ed reform, state lawmakers, our colleges and universities and the business community must work together and lead, not bury ourselves in lofty rhetorical arguments or burden our education system with misguided micromanagement.
Rick O’Donnell Releases Faculty Productivity Analysis
A new sure-to-be-controversial analysis of faculty productivity data from UT and A&M argues that the institutions’ employment practices resemble “a Himalayan trek, where indigenous Sherpas carry the heavy loads.”
Visualizing Days of Lege Debate: Education
It took a series of often rancorous debates this session to reach agreement on how to finance public education for 2012-2013. Use the Trib’s latest interactive to track what lawmakers said about Texas education.

