Not just for the next five years but 25 years and beyond
By Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
A thriving economy depends on a vibrant business culture and
Texas is arguably the best state to do business in the nation. Our low taxes and reasonable approach to regulation coupled with our abundant natural resources have made us a prime destination for industries from energy to technology.
But there is
one other crucial factor to success.
A strong & growing Higher Education System is a major draw for companies looking to establish headquarters in any given locale. They want an educated workforce access to the best research capabilities and an infrastructure that has the built-in capabilities to undertake public-private partnerships without putting the majority of the burden on the private side.
This is what a state rich in academic excellence provides.
And while Texas has outstanding universities which already produce excellent research there is still more we can do. My goal is for Texas to be the number one destination for research and technology companies in the United States.
Presently we have three tier-one universities: UT Austin Texas A&M and Rice. California has nine New
York has seven. With strategic investment we could easily take our number to six.
We have the resources and six of our universities are already on the cusp of tier-one status. What we need now is to commit to taking them over the tipping point. We also have room to create several specific centers of excellence. This would mean colleges and universities focusing on one particular area of expertise and developing their capabilities to make them the number one world destination for that field.
For instance when Gil Grosvenor Chairman Emeritus of National Geographic was looking to set up the Gil Grosvenor Centers for Geographic Education he looked all over the country for the schools with the absolute best geography programs. Texas State University was one of them. I was so pleased that I went to TSU and told them that we could work together on building on their already solid foundation to make it the world destination for geography.
Why does that matter? Because understanding the worlds geographic layout and formations is fundamental to everything from our ability to fight a war on foreign terrain to how to clean up the Gulf of Mexico to how to tap our natural resources for fuel and economic gain.
Or take Lamar University which has the benefit of being located next to the second biggest chemical complex in the world. That means they can gear an engineering program towards the industry giving students a head start by interning and researching in the areas refineries and giving the industry a local talent pool to utilize as they work to advance technologies and make a better more productive energy industry.
And while UT is already a tier-one university I am committed to making it the world destination for anyone whos focused on trade with Latin America. Our geographic location and cultural heritage make
UT the perfect location for this additional center of excellence.
This is vitally important both to Americas economic interests with Latin America as our number one trading partner and to the larger benefit of creating strong regional economies which in turn create a stronger hemisphere that benefits both the U.S. economy and security.
These are uncertain economic times and we need more fiscal responsibility. But higher education is not an expenditure; it is an investment in Texass economic future. Investing in higher education particularly in science technology engineering and math will take us not just the next five years but the next 25 and beyond. It will attract more businesses to our state make the industries in which we excel like energy more productive and bring in new industries as we build our capabilities.
In short excellence in higher education is a matter of national competitiveness for Texas and of international competitiveness for the United States.
Lets commit to making Texas home to at least three and possibly six additional top-tier universities by the end of the decade for our sake and for that of the nation.
Kay Bailey Hutchison is the senior senator from Texas and the Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce Science & Transportation.
