While Texas officials scramble to adopt race-neutral admissions and financial aid policies in the public higher education systems, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has opened an inquiry into system compliance with civil rights legislation. Texas is the only state that prohibits affirmative action in higher education…

During the 1997 session, many Texas lawmakers, especially Black and Hispanic Democrats, have introduced legislation to avert a crisis in the state's higher education system arising from the Hopwood v. Texas supreme court decision leading to discontinuance of affirmative action. Two controversial bills that were approved concerned softening of…

This document reports on a range of issues, tasks, and accomplishments of the Committee on Higher Education of the 72nd Texas Legislature of the State of Texas. The report opens by listing charges to the committee in the following areas: (1) tuition and fees and causes and effects of recent increases; (2) need for student financial aid; (3) role,…

As Texas' elite public colleges and universities experience enrollment declines, the state is requesting clarification of the legal decision in "Hopwood v. Texas," in which the court rejected affirmative action and mandated race-neutral admissions policies. The Texas attorney general disagrees with federal officials and critics on…

Reponsibilities of the Governor's Committee on Education beyond the High School, which was created in 1963 by Governor John Connally of Texas, are outlined. In addition, the creation of a Joint Advisory Committee on Government Operations in 1975 by the 65th Texas Legislature and a Special Committee on Higher Education Financing in Texas by the…