
          Mergers in South Texas Colleges
          By Davenport, ElaineElaine Davenport
          Vol. 11, No. 4, 1989, p. 24
          
          The largely Hispanic population of south Texas now has a better
opportunity to get the same quality of higher education as Texans
living in other parts of the state, thanks to several bills signed in
May that will merge five south Texas colleges with the state's two
most prestigious university systems--the University of Texas and Texas
A&M [Southern_Changes, July/Aug 1988]. 
          Texas A&I in Kingsville, Corpus Christi State and Laredo State will
combine with the A&M system and Pan American University's campuses at
Edinburg and Brownsville will join the UT system, giving the schools
access to the funds and management systems of UT and A&M and an
ability to grow into full-fledged four-year schools with graduate
programs.
          The arrangement will expand the number of advanced degrees
available in South Texas, where currently there are no accredited
medical schools, law school, or health science schools and no doctoral
programs except in bilingual education.
          "You're going to finally see an addressing of the problem of
South Texas--unemployment, a high crime rate. The more educated the
masses are the more productive citizens they'll become," said
Eddie Cavazos, state representative from Corpus Christi.
          But another south Texas legislator, state senator Hector Uribe,
says that it's much too little too late and confirmed that a pending
lawsuit on the matter will go ahead.
          This suit, filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, was scheduled for trial in Brownsville in
September. It seeks a federal_court order to make more state money
available for higher education in south Texas.
          Uribe says the state must spend an additional $500 million to
resolve the lawsuit.
        
