Education
Education provides the foundation for a free, independent and prosperous society. It is also the cornerstone of the state’s economic development efforts. Texas has been a leader among states in its efforts to improve the quality of its public education, increasing accountability and instituting more rigorous curricula.
Texas has the nation’s second-largest elementary and secondary school enrollment, accounting for 9 percent of the U.S. total. State, federal and local funding for Texas public education totaled $36.8 billion for the 2007-07 school year, representing an increase of about 23 percent since 2000-01.
In addition, Texas has 143 public and private institutions of higher education, including:
- 50 community college districts with multiple campuses;
- 31 public four-year universities;
- 39 private four-year colleges and universities;
- four public two-year, upper-division universities and centers;
- three public two-year, lower-division state colleges;
- nine public health-related institutions;
Kiplinger.com ranks Rice University fifth in the nation for best value among private universities.The Princeton Review ranks Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin seventh and eighth, respectively, among the nation's top graduate engineering programs.
The Center for Measuring University Performance ranks Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, Rice University and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center among the nation's top 25 research universities.