Overhaul of schools’ STAAR test proposed by Texas House bill
The bill would require the state to reduce the test’s length, prioritize post-secondary preparation and launch a revamped version by 2026. Full Story
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Jessica Priest covers higher education. She joined the Tribune in 2022 as an engagement reporter in the ProPublica/Texas Tribune joint investigative unit, contributing to a series that was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the explanatory reporting category. Prior to the Tribune, Jessica worked for the Fort Worth Report, USA Today, the Victoria Advocate and the Temple Daily Telegram, reporting on topics that included criminal justice, the environment and local government. Her work has often made an impact. The state’s highest criminal court granted a death row inmate a new trial after she detailed a prosecutor’s conflicts of interest. After she exposed questionable hirings and payments at a port and later a water district in another part of the state, both public entities underwent reforms. Jessica was born in Houston and graduated from Sam Houston State University.
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![A calculator and a test sheet on a desk at Elsik High School in 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
UT System names Jim Davis as UT-Austin’s interim president
The decision to name Davis, UT-Austin's chief operating officer since 2023, ends President Jay Hartzell’s tenure months earlier than anticipated. Full Story
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![James E. Davis was named senior vice president and chief operating officer at the University of Texas at Austin in September 2023]()
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Texas now has more top-tier research universities than any other state, report finds
The designations come at a tumultuous time for universities as funding could be cut off and efforts to end tenure continue. Full Story
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas universities could face funding cuts for health care research under new Trump administration policy
A federal judge blocked a new National Institutes of Health policy from going into effect in 22 states that sued the agency, but Texas wasn’t part of the suit. Full Story
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![UT Tyler Health East Texas is seen from a garage in Tyler on Dec. 7, 2023. The regional system of hospitals was bought by The University of Texas System, UT Health Northeast and Arend Health Services in March 2018.]()
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UT-Dallas students launch alternative newspaper after clash with administration
Students at the university created their own news organization — The Retrograde — after they reached an impasse with administrators regarding oversight and the firing of the campus newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Full Story
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![Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, editor-in-chief of the University of Texas at Dallas’s new student newspaper The Retrograde, hands out copies of the first edition of the newspaper to students at the UTD student union on January 29, 2025.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers may ban certain lessons at state colleges under expanded DEI crackdown
Legislators are expected to take up a $360 million proposal that would change the landscape of financial aid in the state. Full Story
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![Students walk through Texas State University campus Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018, in San Marcos, Texas.]()
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Donald Trump’s push to freeze federal funds sparks confusion in Texas
Texas cities, counties, higher education institutions and nonprofits clambered Tuesday to gauge the potential fallout from the suspension, later blocked temporarily by a federal judge. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott threatens Texas A&M president’s job over claim that university broke DEI ban
Abbott's comments came after A&M invited staffers and students to attend a conference that a conservative activist said broke the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott, speaks about Centerpoint Energy during a press conference at Gallery Furniture, Houston, Thursday, Sunday July 14,2024. Doug Sweet Jr. for Texas Tribune]()
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UT-Austin’s presidency goes vacant amid growing challenges for Texas public university leaders
In recent years university presidents have been facing growing political pressures, student and faculty pushback and an increasingly demanding job. Full Story
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![Students walk through campus at the University of Texas at Austin in Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell will leave to lead SMU
Hartzell leaves UT-Austin after four years of tense political battles and legislative efforts to implement a more conservative vision of public higher ed. Full Story
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![The University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell, middle, on April 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune
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