HIGHER EDUCATION

Each year, approximately 300,000 students begin eighth grade in a Texas public school. Use our database to learn about the education outcomes of these eighth grade cohorts, including higher education enrollment and graduation rates.

Join The Texas Tribune for “The Great Student Resignation,” a live conversation with educators happening at noon Central on June 30 at Odessa College.

The University of Texas at Austin selected Justin Dyer to run The Civitas Institute, formerly referred to as the Liberty Institute. The center raised concerns among faculty after The Texas Tribune reported UT-Austin worked with conservative donors and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to bring the institute to the flagship UT campus.

The conservative group Speech First argued that the anti-discrimination policy restricting “offensive speech about personal characteristics such race, ethnicity or gender” violates students’ First Amendment rights. The university agreed to keep its amended policy as part of a settlement.

Emails obtained via an open records request show two professors who helped develop the new center believe UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell backed off a plan to bring “intellectual diversity” to campus.

The Baylor Board of Regents approved a four-step plan to change the name of a campus quadrangle named after a slave-owning former university president and add more elements to provide a better representation of Baylor’s history.

UT-San Antonio is the fifth public university in Texas to achieve Texas Tier One status.

The board agreed to spend $85 million on a law and education building and another $85 million on a research and innovation center.

Carlos Hernandez will focus on student recruitment and bolstering academic programs at Sul Ross to combat declining enrollment.

Adult learners who had to put their educational goal on hold because of COVID-19, a family issue, or for other reasons, can now take that last step and complete their certificate or degree with tuition, books and class materials covered at San Jacinto College with the Last Step Scholarship. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, they can move into a good-paying position and the career of their dreams.

Texas is a great state, but there’s a lot of work to do, and it starts with the public — and what Texans really want. The political class isn’t going to do this on its own.

Texas political leaders usually settle for caution. The big stuff is risky, but it’s also possible — and even inspiring — to see leaders ignoring the small stuff and aiming higher.

After back-to-back major flooding events devastated Houston, the community college is launching a new program to ensure that citizens, businesses and emergency responders are better equipped to respond to catastrophic events.

Many Texas public universities have committed to accepting students who do not submit SAT or ACT standardized test scores, signaling that test-optional policies could be here to stay.

Like other states, Texas found out during the pandemic how critical high-speed broadband is for school, work and medicine. And the state is working to expand it — but it’s going to be at least a year before Texans start to see results.

Senior Kelly Neidert has repeatedly thrust the University of North Texas into the conservative media spotlight, most recently by bringing Texas House candidate Jeff Younger to campus. Her motive? It depends on who you ask.

The lawsuit against the University of North Texas argues out-of-state American citizens shouldn’t pay more than undocumented Texans. A federal judge agreed.

The Board of Regents backed. Gordon last year despite a vote of no confidence from faculty. Six months later, the board reversed course. It Sunday that it was in everyone’s “best interest” to part ways and appointed an interim president.

The two-year pilot program comes after at least 15 years of students asking for the change. It will allow UT-Austin students to live together in certain residence halls with students of any gender or sexual identity.

The Florida law prohibits teachers from teaching sexual orientation or gender identity to kids below the fourth grade.

Once confirmed, Kelly R. Damphousse will replace Denise Trauth to serve as the university’s 10th president.

Simmons will teach, help maintain new fundraising partnerships and launch a college and university leadership training academy.

So far, about 14 students could receive the aid, but the number might increase as more candidates are identified, the university system said.

College leaders blame strict requirements initially handed down by the state. “It was like we were on a hunt for a unicorn,” one spokesperson said.

A jury awarded Evdokia Nikolova damages for past and future pain and suffering after finding UT-Austin illegally discriminated against her when the school denied her tenure.

Simmons also served as president of Smith College in Massachusetts and Brown University, where she was the first Black woman to preside over an Ivy League school.

Sealy and his family have donated more than $1 billion over the past 100 years to UTMB and its medical institutions.

The chancellor instructed universities and agencies in the system to dissolve all agreements, especially those related to academics, research and intellectual property.

About $1 billion will go toward to support students, as the cost of living in Austin skyrockets.

First Liberty Institute, a Plano-based religious freedom legal group, has a registered trademark for the name and said it has alerted UT-Austin that it objects to them using it.

On this week’s episode, Patrick Svitek and Kate McGee discuss the last push in some of the most interesting primary races on the ballot. But first, we discuss Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s proposal targeting tenure at public universities.

The endowment will increase the number of students who qualify for free tuition and fees at UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas, UT-El Paso, UT-Permian Basin, UT-Rio Grande Valley, UT-San Antonio and UT-Tyler.

Patrick’s suggestion to end tenure at public universities received swift criticism from faculty and higher education experts who said it would negatively impact the reputation of Texas’ colleges and universities.

Patrick’s declarations come days after the UT-Austin Faculty Council approved a measure reaffirming instructors’ right to teach about racial justice and critical race theory in the classroom.

Paul Quinn College hopes the new practice will better combat intergenerational poverty and remove the pressure on first-generation college students to financially lift up their entire families.

The lieutenant governor vowed to ban the teaching of critical race theory at Texas’ public colleges and universities.

Leaders at higher education institutions are trying to attract students by offering flexibility with instructional modes — and they said that flexibility is here to stay.

Texas State University terminated Ronnie Lozano in mid-December, a month and a half after The Texas Tribune raised questions about how he was using bone marrow registry program donations.

The student newspaper will continue as an online-only news organization after the spring semester. But the university’s unilateral decision to end the print edition without student input has students and faculty concerned about its editorial independence.

John Harvey Slocum, the son of a famous A&M football coach, is seeking to unseat state Rep. John Raney, R-College Station.

The university has declined to say much about the questionable spending, documented in records provided to The Texas Tribune. The Texas State University System is investigating the matter.

As Texas universities and colleges begin a fifth semester during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students say they are struggling with uncertainty and an indifference toward school and the future.

A federal lawsuit accuses Rice University of engaging in price-fixing in collaboration with other prestigious private schools across the country, inflating the cost of college for students who need aid.

The board must wait a state-mandated 21 days before the finalist is officially named the 10th president of UT-Arlington. If approved, Evans-Cowley will be the first female president at the university.

The Carnegie R1 status is the highest designation for research universities in the country and is viewed as an important step to recruit high-quality faculty and obtain more prestigious research grants.

The politician turned college president got stuck in a fight over which university system should manage the university. And he faced pushback from faculty and members of the Far West Texas community about his decisions and leadership style.

The decision to halt the study comes after a University of Michigan-Flint professor filed an Office for Civil Rights complaint against the study, arguing it discriminates against children of color. But professors said pausing the study sets a negative precedent that could impact academic freedom.

Richards’ comments in 2020 led to his resignation from his Dallas-based company, The Richards Group, as well as calls for the university to change the name of the Stan Richards College of Advertising and Public Relations, which launched in 2014.

A little more than a year after taking the top job at the West Texas school, the former lawmaker has announced he is leaving at the end of the school year.

DesRoches is an internationally recognized structural engineer and earthquake resilience expert. He will be the first immigrant and first Black man to lead the private Houston university.