There are 181 colleges, universities and dozens of other
institutions engaged in the research and development of Texas.
Most
public universities are members of six different systems: University of
Houston
, University of North Texas,
University of Texas,
Texas A&M
University, Texas
State University, and Texas Tech University.
The University
of Texas at Austin
, Texas A&M University
, University of Houston
, and University of North Texas
are Texas's four largest comprehensive doctoral
degree-granting institutions with a combined enrollment of over
165,000.
The state also has many private universities.
Rice University—one of the country’s leading
teaching and research universities—ranked the 17th-best university
overall in the nation by
U.S. News & World Report.
Additionally, Southwestern
University
—the oldest university in the state—was chartered by
the Republic of Texas.
The state's public school systems are administered by the
Texas Education Agency (TEA). Texas
has over 1,000
school districts—all
but one of the school districts in Texas are separate from any form
of
municipal government. School
districts may (and often do) cross city and county boundaries—an
exception to this rule is
Stafford Municipal School
District. School districts have the power to
tax their residents and to assert
eminent domain over privately owned
property.
Texas also has numerous
private
schools of all types. The TEA has no authority over private
school operations; private schools may or may not be accredited,
and achievement tests are not required for private school
graduating seniors. Many private schools obtain accreditation and
perform achievement tests to show parents the school's interest in
educational performance.
The state has some of the fewest restrictions on
homeschooling. Neither TEA nor the local
school district has authority to regulate home school activities.
There is no minimum number of days in a year, or hours in a day,
that must be met, and achievement tests are not required for home
school graduating seniors. The validity of home schooling was
challenged in Texas, but a landmark case,
Leeper v.
Arlington ISD, ruled that home schooling was legal and
that the state had little authority to regulate the practice.
Primary and secondary education
Texas
has over
1,000 school districts, ranging in
size from the gigantic Houston Independent School
District to the 13-student Divide Independent School
District in rural south Texas. All but one of the
school districts in Texas are
separate from any form of
municipal
government, hence they are called "independent school
districts", or "ISD" for short. School districts may (and often do)
cross city and county boundaries. School districts have the power
to
tax their residents and to use
eminent domain.
The sole exception to
this rule is Stafford
Municipal School District, which serves all of the city of
Stafford
.
The public school systems are administered by the
Texas Education Agency (TEA), which
also oversees
charter schools. The
TEA is divided into twenty Educational Service Center "regions"
that serve the local school districts. The "
Robin Hood plan " is a controversial tax
redistribution system that provides court-mandated equitable school
financing for all school districts in the state. Property tax
revenue from property-wealthy school districts is and distributed
those in property-poor districts, in an effort to equalize the
financing of all districts throughout Texas.
Especially in the metropolitan areas, Texas also has numerous
private schools of all types
(
non-sectarian,
Catholic, and
Protestant). The TEA has no authority over
private school operations; private schools may or may not be
accredited, and achievement tests are not required for private
school graduating seniors. Many private schools will obtain
accreditation and perform achievement tests as a means of
encouraging future parents that the school is genuinely interested
in educational performance.
It is generally considered to be among the least restrictive states
in which to home school. Neither TEA nor the local school district
has authority to regulate home school activities; state law only
requires that the curriculum 1) must teach "reading, spelling,
grammar, mathematics and a study of good citizenship" (the latter
interpreted to mean a course in
civics) and
2) must be taught in a
bona fide
manner. There are no minimum number of days in a year, or hours in
a day, that must be met, and achievement tests are not required for
home school graduating seniors. The validity of home schooling was
challenged in Texas, but a landmark case,
Leeper v.
Arlington
ISD, ruled that home schooling was legal and that the
state had little or no authority to regulate the practice.
TAKS
The
Texas
Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) is a standardized test used in Texas primary and secondary schools to assess students'
attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social
studies skills required under Texas education standards.
It is developed and scored by Pearson Educational Measurement with
close supervision by the Texas Education Agency. Though created
before the
No Child Left Behind
Act was passed, it complies with the law. It replaced the
previous test, called the
Texas Assessment of Academic
Skills or TAAS, in 2003.
Public Colleges and universities
Texas's controversial alternative
affirmative action plan,
Texas House Bill 588, guarantees Texas
students who graduated in the percent of their high school class
automatic admission to state-funded universities. The bill
encourages
diversity while avoiding
problems stemming from the
Hopwood
v. Texas (1996)
case.
Texas has six state
university
systems and four independent public universities.
Discovery of minerals
on Permanent University
Fund land, particularly oil, has helped fund the rapid growth
the state's largest university systems: University of Texas and Texas A&M
. The other four university systems are the ,
University of
North Texas, , and .
The University
of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University are flagship
universities of the state of Texas. The state is trying
to expand the number of flagship universities by elevating some of
its seven emerging research universities.
The University of
Houston, Texas Tech University
, and The University of Texas at
Dallas
are generally considered in the upper echelon from
which the next tier one research flagship university will
emerge.
University of Houston System
The University of Houston System has four universities and two
multi-institution teaching centers with a combined enrollment of
over 60,000.
The flagship and oldest institution of the
System is the University of Houston (UH), which is the only doctoral degree granting
research institution in Houston and is the third-largest in Texas
with an enrollment of over 37,000.
With over 300 degree programs and 40 research centers and
institutes, UH is one of the most ethnically diverse research
university in the country. The interdisciplinary research conducted
at UH focuses on such areas as
superconductivity, space
commercialization,
biomedical
engineering,
economics,
education,
petroleum
exploration and
management.
UH has the only optometry school and one of six pharmacy programs
in Texas. Its law school— —ranked No. 55 (Tier 1) of the
"Top 100 Law Schools" in 2008 by
U.S. News &
World Report and is one of four public law schools in the
state.
The University of Houston System has three other distinct and
separate universities in addition to UH, with each university
conferring its own degrees.
The University of Houston–Clear
Lake
(UHCL) and University of
Houston–Downtown (UHD) are both located in Houston while the
University of
Houston–Victoria (UHV) is located in the state's Coastal Bend
region.
University of North Texas System
The
University of North
Texas System (UNT System) has three schools in the
North Texas region, all of which are in the
Dallas/Fort Worth
Metroplex.
The
flagship institution is the University of North Texas (UNT) located in Denton
. UNT
is the largest university in the Metroplex and fourth largest in
the state. The fields taught at UNT focus on such areas as business
management, education, engineering,
hospitality,
music and
science.
The UNT
System also oversees the University of North Texas at
Dallas, the only public university located in the city limits of Dallas
, and the
University
of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, the only
college in Texas that specializes in osteopathic
medicine.
University of Texas System
The University of Texas System (UT), established by the
Texas Constitution in 1876, consists of
nine
academic universities and six health institutions. UT
System institutions enrolled a total of 182,752 students in fall
2004 making it one of the largest systems of
higher education in the nation.
In 2004,
the University of Texas at Austin, which is the largest institution in the UT System
and in the state of Texas, maintained an enrollment of 50,377
students.The University of Texas at Austin
was once the largest institution in the United States, but it is
now one of the top three largest by population. Seven
doctoral programs at UT Austin rank in the top 10
in the nation and 22 degree programs rank in the top 25, according
to a comprehensive study of the quality of graduate schools
conducted by the
United States National
Research Council. Four of the seven medical schools of Texas
are within the
University of
Texas System. In 2004, the
University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas was ranked the
12th highest ranking medical school in the United States, with four
of Texas's 11
Nobel laureates.
Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System, established by the 1871 Texas
legislature, is the second largest state university system of
higher learning in Texas.
Its flagship institution, Texas A&M
University located in College Station, opened in 1876 and is
the state's oldest public institution of higher education.
Funded research generally exceeds that of all other Texas
universities including UT Austin, and Texas A&M ranks among the
top ten national universities in research. It is the second largest
university in the state of Texas and also one of the top 10 largest
schools in the nation. The University of Texas's rivalry with Texas
A&M dates back to the late 19th century.
Texas State University System
The Texas
State University System, created in 1911 to oversee the state's
normal schools (teachers' colleges),
is the oldest multi-system University System in Texas. The
system is unique to Texas because it is the only horizontal
State University System; the
system does not have a flagship institution and considers every
campus to be unique in their own way. Over the years, several
member schools have been moved to other university systems.
Today,
the system encompasses eight institutions; Texas State
University-San Marcos
, located halfway between Austin
and San Antonio
in San Marcos, Texas
, is the largest university the system with an
enrollment of 30,816 students.
Texas Tech University System
The Texas Tech University System was established in 1996, though
Texas Tech University in Lubbock has existed since 1923.
The Texas
Tech system consists of two academic
universities, Angelo State
University
in San Angelo
, a nationally recognized regional university and
Texas Tech
University in Lubbock
, the flagship campus, a research institution which
has the second largest contiguous campus in the United States and
is the only school in Texas to house an undergraduate institution,
law school, and medical school at the same location. The
system also includes the
Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Centers, found in
Amarillo,
El
Paso,
Lubbock, and
Odessa and eight learning centers in
Abilene,
Amarillo,
Fredericksburg,
Highland
Lakes, and
Junction. It has
international campuses in
Quedlinburg,
Germany and
Seville,
Spain.
Independent Universities
Four public universities are unaffiliated with any of the six
systems. They are:
Texas State Technical College
The state also operates the
Texas State Technical College
System, a group of two-year technical colleges located throughout
the state.
System headquarters are co-located with the
flagship campus in Waco
.
Community Colleges
Several community colleges operate throughout the state of Texas.
Although the state has established territorial jurisdictions for
each college, the colleges themselves are governed by local boards
of trustees, and are financed mainly through local property
taxes.
The taxing area and the jurisdiction are not necessarily the same
in all cases. As an example, the jurisdiction of
North Central Texas College
includes the counties of Cooke, Denton, and Montague, but only
Cooke County property is subject to the property tax assessment. On
the other hand, the jurisdiction and tax base for
Tarrant County College are the same:
Tarrant County.
Private Colleges and Universities
Dallas/Fort Worth schools
The
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is home to several private universities
such as Southern Methodist University
(which has the Metroplex's largest law school),
University of Dallas, and
Texas
Christian University
.
For more information see:
List of
Dallas-Fort Worth area colleges and universities
Houston Schools
Houston is the location of
Rice
University, which boasts one of the largest
financial endowments of any university
in the world. The small undergraduate student body has one of the
highest percentages of National Merit Scholarship winners in the
United States. Rice University maintains a variety of research
facilities and laboratories. Rice is also associated with the
Houston Area Research Center, a consortium supported by Rice, the
University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and the
University of Houston.
Another
liberal arts college in Houston is the
University of St. Thomas
. It was founded by the
Basilian Order in 1947 as a
Roman Catholic university. Former UST
president Archbishop J. Michael Miller currently serves in the
Roman Curia as the
prefect of Catholic universities throughout the
world. The campus is also home to some major historic buildings,
such as the Link-Lee Mansion (once the largest house in Texas) and
Hughes House (the childhood home of
Howard
Hughes).
San Antonio schools
Private
universities in the city are Trinity University
, St. Mary's University
, University of the Incarnate
Word
, and Our
Lady of the Lake University.
Baylor University
Baylor University, chartered in 1845 by the
Republic of Texas, is the oldest
university in Texas operating under its original charter. It
purports to be the largest
Baptist
university in the world, having an enrollment of over 14,000
students. Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Association of Southern
Baptist Colleges and Schools.
The campus is located just southeast of
downtown Waco
, roughly
bounded by Interstate 35, Speight
Avenue, Eighth Street and the Brazos
River.
Austin College
Austin
College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the
Presbyterian Church USA and located in Sherman, Texas
, an hour north of Dallas
.
Chartered in November 1849, it is the oldest college in Texas under
original charter and name as recognized by the
State Historical Survey
Committee. The school is named after Texas hero
Stephen F. Austin, who along with his sister Emily,
deeded 1,500 acres (6 km²) of land to the college. Another
important figure in Texas history,
Sam
Houston, served on the original board of trustees for the
school.
U.S.
News & World
Report ranked Austin College among the top 100 colleges in
the category of "Best Liberal Arts Colleges" for 2006. Austin
College also ranked among the "Best 361 Colleges" in the
2006
Princeton Review, was profiled
in
Loren Pope's
Colleges That Change Lives,
and was profiled in the 2005 edition of
Kaplan's
Unbiased Guide to the 331 Most
Interesting Colleges. Austin College is also ninth on the
U.S. News' 2006 list for "most students studying
abroad." It is a member of the International 50, a group of the top
colleges in the nation for international focus.
Medical research
Aerial of Texas Medical Center in
Houston
Texas is home to several research medical centers. The state has
eight
medical
schools, three dental schools, and one
optometry school.
Texas has two Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories:
one at The University of Texas Medical
Branch
(UTMB) in Galveston, and the other at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical
Research
in San Antonio—the first privately owned BSL-4 lab
in the United States.
The
Texas
Medical Center
, in Houston, is the world's largest concentration
of research and healthcare institutions, with 45 member
institutions in the Texas Medical Center. More heart
transplants are performed at Texas Medical Center than anywhere else in the world.
San
Antonio's South Texas Medical
Center facilities rank sixth in clinical medicine research
impact in the United
States
. The University of Texas M.
D. Anderson Cancer Center is one of the world’s highly regarded academic
institutions devoted to cancer patient care, research, education
and prevention.
Top 10 universities by enrollment
| Top 10 as of Fall 2009 |
| Ranking |
University |
Location |
Enrollment |
| 1 |
The University of Texas at
Austin |
Austin |
51,032 |
| 2 |
Texas A&M University |
College Station |
48,787 |
| 3 |
University of Houston |
Houston |
37,006 |
| 4 |
University of North Texas |
Denton |
36,206 |
| 5 |
Texas
State University–San Marcos |
San Marcos |
30,816 |
| 6 |
Texas Tech University |
Lubbock |
30,049 |
| 7 |
The
University of Texas at San Antonio |
San Antonio |
29,133 |
| 8 |
The
University of Texas at Arlington |
Arlington |
28,084 |
| 9 |
The University of Texas at El
Paso |
El Paso |
21,011 |
| 10 |
The
University of Texas–Pan American |
Edinburg |
17,000+ |
Top 12 universities by research and development
Top universities by Nobel Laureate affiliation
Texan universities ranked according to
their number of Nobel laureate affiliation are:
The listing above includes all Nobel laureates which were, at one
time, affiliated with the institution, though that person may not
now be affiliated.
References
- America's Best Colleges 2006. U.S. News
& World Report
- The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of
Texas list of Texas Nobel Laureates
- Facts and Figures. Texas Medical
Center. 2006. Last Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- http://www.utexas.edu/news/2009/09/15/fall09_enrollment/
- http://www.kbtx.com/state/headlines/58133762.html
- http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6624760.html
- http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?CommentID=3548
-
http://www.txstate.edu/news/news_releases/news_archive/2009/09/Enrollment091609.html
-
http://today.ttu.edu/2009/09/texas-tech-sets-record-enrollment/
- http://www.utsa.edu/today/2009/09/enrollment.cfm
-
http://www.uta.edu/ucomm/mediarelations/press/2009/09/Fall-2009-enrollment-figures.php
- http://webcontent.utep.edu/inthenews/09.16.2009.htm
- p.14 and p.24
See also
in Wichita Falls
, the state's only public liberal arts college
Austin State
University
, which operates one of two schools of forestry and
the only one in the East Texas (the
state's timber-producing region)
in Houston
, the first historically black
university to house a law school and one of only two
historically black universities in the state; it was also the first
state-supported institution in the city of Houston
D.
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