Howdy, Advocates!

Thanks for your continued interest in and support of The Texas A&M Advocacy Network. Our second news update includes articles on the state’s recent primaries and a preview of the November elections. In addition, you will also find information on the various "perceptions" of colleges and universities (from a national perspective), as well as articles about the re-authorization of the Higher Education Act.

While some articles may include opinion pieces, we hope that you will find all of the material informative, reasoned, and useful. We provide these articles as context only and not as an endorsement of any particular opinion.

Thanks and gig ’em,

Dave Fujimoto ’17
Director of Strategic Engagement

Texas Politics

Democratic candidates for governor Lupe Valdez and Andrew White. Robin Jerstad: Valdez/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Andrew White

Texas Primaries 2018: Full Election Results

The March 6 primary elections were the first in the nation since Donald Trump was elected president. While the results are an early indicator of things to come in November, more than 30 Texas primary races are still undecided and headed to a runoff. See the results in statewide races for U.S. Senate, governor and land commissioner, as well as in dozens of races for the U.S. House and the Texas Legislature.

Primary voting day at a polling place in South Austin on March 6, 2018. Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune

Opinion: Here's what's in play in Texas' November general elections

There is one congressional seat, and maybe a couple more, that could change flags when the major parties clash. There is a seat in the Texas Senate, and a couple of wildcard races that will put new people in that legislative body. And there are a dozen seats in the Texas House that could go to either the Democrats or the Republicans. Those races will lock down the list of candidates for a significant election in 2019 — the one for speaker of the Texas House.

Perceptions of Higher Education

The Political Divide over Higher Education in America

According to Brandon Busteed, Gallup's Executive Director for Education and Workforce Development, Republicans have soured on higher education. Sixty-seven percent of Republicans in the U.S. have "some" to "very little confidence" in colleges and universities, according to a recent Gallup survey. And a 2017 Pew Research Center survey shows that 58% of Republicans say colleges and universities have a negative effect on the way things are going in the country. The latter represents a dramatic change from Pew's 2015 survey, when 37% (of Republicans) said it was negative and 54% positive.

Words Matter in Gauging Public Confidence

College and university leaders have been consumed since the summer with trying to understand public attitudes about them, as multiple surveys and studies have delivered evidence of growing skepticism and doubts about the value of what consumers and society get from higher education.

Higher Education - Federal

Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act

(Click on the picture above to get the latest from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce)

Lamar Alexander, head of the Senate’s education committee: “It is unfair and untrue to suggest that for most students college is out of reach financially.”

Opinion: Why an Update of Higher Ed's Sweeping Framework Could Be Years Away

The Senate has held four hearings since January to discuss revamping the federal law governing higher education. But as momentum ramps up, signs of discord on fundamental issues may throw a wrench into the plan to reauthorize the law — which is overdue for an update — in 2018.

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