Houston Schools, Colleges, and Universities

Houston Public Schools
There are many school districts serving the city of Houston, the largest of which, the Houston Independent School District, serves a large majority of the area within the city limits. Houston Schools are working to make their centers of learning ones where the gifted and talented are continually challenged with unique magnet programs and rigorous standards. These Houston Schools are continuously monitored to help ensure that high-quality and more-rigorous instruction is provided in all classrooms. To help students realize their potential, Houston schools are committed to providing the best possible resources and opportunities.

Serving more than 210,000 students, the Houston Independent School District is the nation's seventh largest and one of Houston's largest employers. Houston ISD is special because of a grant with the US Department of Education. Houston ISD is one of the first in the country to create educational portals for teachers, students and parents. Houston Independent School District is the largest of the 31 independent school districts in Harris County and its surrounding areas. Houston Independent School District is the largest district in Texas, offering its students "magnet" school programs that allow them to focus on career-related courses. "Houston ISD is a wonderful example of what is right in public education," says Melissa Bonney Ratcliff, the foundation's director of communications.
 

Gifted & Talented in Houston Schools

Starting in the 2007-2008 school year, students who are gifted or academically talented will all attend magnet schools called Vanguard Schools. The identification matrix used by Houston Schools includes test scores from the Stanford/Aprenza exam and the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test. These Houston Schools are continuously monitored to help ensure that high-quality and more-rigorous instruction is provided in all classrooms. In addition, any of these Houston Schools high-school students who are enrolled in a Vanguard School are required to take a minimum of two advanced-academic courses (ex: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or dual-credit). Houston Schools have made sure to identify these students and provide them with excellent places that they can attend to make the most of their public Houston Schools education.

Houston Schools Open to Katrina Victims

Houston was also the first district in Texas to permit public charter schools, which are liberated from most regulations in return for meeting rigorous performance standards. Houston still remains home to about 150,000 New Orleans evacuees. Houston also has a fiscal motive to ensure that temporary government assistance for Katrina evacuees remains temporary. Houston isn't just showing its guests some Texas hospitality; it's showing displaced New Orleanians what a difference it makes to live in a city that strives, if imperfectly, to operate upon sound urban-governance precepts leadership in a crisis, competent policing, a functioning judicial system, accountable urban schools and a culture of private-sector entrepreneurship.

Houston Private Schools
The Houston area is home to more than 300 private schools and several are well-known. Many of the schools are accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by Texas Private School Accreditation Commission (TEPSAC). Among the 50 Houston Area Independent Schools are Saint Thomas High School, Incarnate Word Academy, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, Saint Agnes Academy, St. John's School, Saint Catherine's Montessori, Awty International School, The Emery/Weiner School, and The Kinkaid School.

Colleges and Universities
Houston is home to Rice University.  Rice University is a private, independent university dedicated to providing unsurpassed undergraduate education and producing internationally distinguished scholarship in carefully focused areas of research. Rice University is fourth on Kiplinger's list of best values among private universities. Rice University is located in Houston, the largest city in Texas and fourth largest in the nation, and its campus boasts about 50 major buildings of a red-tiled roofed, neo-Byzantine style of architecture situated on approximately 285 acres of tree-shaded park-like grounds. Rice University is consistently ranked one of America's best teaching and research universities.

Houston is served by the University of Houston System, the largest urban state system of higher education on the Gulf Coast. The system has four universities, all but one of which are in Houston, and two multi-institution teaching centers. Their flagship institution is the University of Houston, which was founded in 1927 and is the only doctoral degree granting extensive research institution in Houston. It is the third-largest University in the State of Texas with an enrollment of more than 35,000. The University of Houston is also home to more than 40 research centers and institutes. Among the most prestigious of the University of Houston's colleges is the University of Houston Law Center (law school). The University of Houston Law Center's Health Law and Policy Institute is ranked number one in the nation while its intellectual property law program is ranked fifth, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Texas Southern University is an historically black college and university (HBCU) located in Houston. It is heralded as a pioneer school, and distinguishes itself as one of the leading producers of African American scholars that obtain collegiate, professional, and graduate degrees in the state, as well as the nation.

Houston also is home to the University of Saint Thomas, a Catholic liberal arts college following the Byzantine tradition, founded by the Basilian fathers of Canada, and located in the Montrose area. Another religious college serving Houston is Houston Baptist University. South Texas College of Law, located in the heart of downtown Houston, boasts one of the nation's finest programs for trial advocacy.