Education in Houston

=Healthcare and scientific research=

Houston is the seat of the internationally-renowned Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions.

There are 42 member institutions in the Texas Medical Center—all are not-for-profit—dedicated to the highest standards of patient and preventive care, research, education, and local, national, and international community well-being. These institutions include 13 renowned hospitals and two specialty institutions, two medical schools, four nursing schools, and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and virtually all health-related careers. It is where one of the first—and still the largest—air emergency service was created. A very successful inter-institutional transplant program has also been developed. In addition, more heart surgeries are performed at the Texas Medical Center than anywhere else in the world.

Some of the academic and research health institutions are Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, The Methodist Hospital, and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is widely considered one of the world's most productive and highly-regarded academic institutions devoted to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.

Colleges and universities

Houston has the University of Houston System, which is the largest urban state system of higher education in the Gulf Coast with over 56,000 students. 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 (UH), which is the third-largest university in Texas with an enrollment of more than 35,000 [http://www.uh.edu/oppa/SHB2005/Fall_2005_Facts.pdf] and is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes. Two other institutions within the UH System serving Houston are UH–Clear Lake and UH–Downtown. Another state supported institution is the Texas Southern University—a historically black university—located in the historic Third Ward area.Houston is the location of several private institutions—both secular and non-secular. The city is home to Rice University, a private institution boasting one of the largest financial endowments of any university in the world—it was ranked the 17th-best university overall in the nation by "U.S. News & World Report". [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/tier1/t1natudoc_brief.php] Rice maintains a variety of research facilities and laboratories. Founded in 1923, South Texas College of Law boasts one of the nation's finest programs for trial advocacy [ [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawsp07_brief.php USNews.com: America's Best Graduate Schools 2008: Law: Trial Advocacy ] ] and is Houston's oldest law school. [ [http://cumberland.samford.edu/images/PDFs/foreign_programs/BROCHURE%20for%20Cambridge%202006.pdf Program Description ] ] The University of St. Thomas, a Catholic liberal arts college following the Basilian tradition, was founded by the Basilian fathers of Canada, and located in the Montrose area. Houston Baptist University, a Baptist institution founded in 1960, is located in southwest Houston and boasts more than 50 undergraduate majors and pre-professional programs ranging from Biblical languages to nursing.

Much of Houston is served by the Houston Community College System, which is one of the largest community college systems in the United States. HCCS serves the HISD portion of Houston and other areas. Parts of northern Houston are served by North Harris Montgomery Community College District. Parts of eastern and southeastern Houston are served by San Jacinto College. Many of Houston's suburbs also have their own community college systems.

Primary and secondary education

A 2007 "Money" survey stated that 91.1% of the students attending schools within the city limit go to public schools and 8.9 percent go to private schools. [" [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/snapshots/PL4835000.html CITY STATS Houston, TX 2007] ." "Money".]

Public schools

All public school systems in Texas are administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). There are many public school districts serving the city of Houston. The largest school district serving the city limits is the Houston Independent School District, which serves a large majority of the area within the city limits. A portion of west Houston falls under the Spring Branch and Alief independent school districts. Aldine and North Forest independent school districts take a part of northeast Houston. Parts of Pasadena, Clear Creek, Crosby, Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, Galena Park, Huffman, Humble, Katy, Klein, New Caney, Sheldon, and Spring independent school districts also take students from the city limits of Houston.

There are also many charter schools that are run separately from school districts, but are administered by the Texas Education Agency. In addition, public school districts—such as Houston ISD and Spring Branch ISD—also have their own charter schools.

tate-operated charter schools within the Houston city limits

See: List of state-operated charter schools in Houston

Private schools

Houston has numerous private schools of all types, including non-sectarian, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant, and Muslim. The Texas Education Agency has no authority over private school operations; private schools may or may not be accredited, and achievement tests are not required for private school graduating seniors. Many private schools will obtain accreditation and perform achievement tests as a means of demonstrating that the school is genuinely interested in educational performance. 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). In addition, Houston area Catholic schools are operated by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
*Annunciation Orthodox School
*Awty International School
*British School of Houston
*The Emery/Weiner School
*Houston Christian High School
*The Monarch School
*Saint Agnes Academy (all-girls)
*St. Catherine's Montessori School
*The Kinkaid School

Public libraries

Residents of Houston are served by four public library systems: Houston Public Library, Harris County Public Library, Montgomery County Memorial Library System, and Fort Bend County Libraries. The Houston Public Library has 36 branches throughout the city, plus the Central Library, located Downtown. The Harris County Public Library has 26 branches (2 of them in Houston), primarily serving areas outside the city limits of Houston. The portion of Houston within Fort Bend County is served by the Fort Bend County Libraries, in addition to Houston Public Library. The Montgomery County portion is served by both HPL and Montgomery County Memorial Library System.

References

ee also

*Education in Texas
*Education in the United States
*List of colleges and universities in Houston
*List of colleges and universities in Texas

External links

* [http://www.childrenatrisk.org/childrenatrisk.cfm?a=cms,c,359 "2007 Greater Houston High School Ranking Report"]