Texas Tightens Rules on College Classrooms

For most students choosing a college, curriculum is invisible — until someone rewrites it.

That's now happening at some of the largest public universities in the United States. In Texas, political oversight has reached classrooms in ways that are forcing professors to change what they teach, and in some cases, prompting faculty to consider whether they want to stay.

What Happened

Ahead of the spring 2026 semester, both the Texas Tech University System and the Texas A&M University System announced new restrictions on what professors can include in their courses — specifically regarding content related to race, gender, and sexual orientation.¹

At Texas A&M's flagship campus in College Station, the university modified hundreds of syllabi to comply with the new guidelines. One philosophy professor was told he could not assign readings from Plato — the reasoning, according to reporting by Texas Public Radio, being that portions of the text touched on what the university classified as gender ideology.¹

At Texas Tech, the English department was told it could no longer assign texts written by gay authors.¹

These decisions stem from a law the Texas legislature passed in 2025 that shifted authority over curriculum content from faculty to boards of regents. Regents at Texas public universities are appointed by the governor. The new law expanded their oversight of what is taught in classrooms — moving beyond the DEI ban known as SB 17, which took effect in January 2024, to more directly affect individual course syllabi.

What Officials Are Saying

Texas A&M Interim President Tommy Williams said the changes were about "protecting educational quality and not about censoring faculty or restricting academic freedom."¹

The American Association of University Professors sees it differently. Todd Wolfson, the organization's president, told NPR this spring that the curriculum reviews are part of what he called "a rapid assault on academic freedom in Texas over the past six to nine months."²

In February 2026, the University of Texas System's board voted to limit the teaching of "controversial topics" in class, raising similar concerns among UT faculty.

Why This Matters for Students

If you're applying to or already enrolled at a Texas public university, this affects you in concrete ways.

What you might not study. Depending on your major — particularly in humanities, social sciences, and related fields — certain texts, authors, or perspectives may no longer be part of the formal curriculum at some campuses.

Who teaches you. Faculty retention is a real concern. A survey by the student newspaper The Daily Texan found that approximately 60 percent of more than 430 UT professors said they were considering leaving the university, including 75 percent of College of Liberal Arts faculty.²

What it signals for your college list. Texas is among the larger and faster-moving cases, but similar dynamics are playing out in Florida and other states. If a state legislature's political priorities can reach individual syllabi, that's a real variable when building your college list.

If you're planning to study humanities, social sciences, gender studies, philosophy, or literature at a Texas public university, ask your department directly about curriculum changes before your next registration period. Some courses and texts have been removed with little public notice.

What to Do If You're Considering a Texas School

Thinking about applying to UT Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, or another state school in Texas? A few practical steps:

1. Check specific department pages. Most universities do not advertise curriculum restrictions in their marketing materials. Look at actual course listings and available syllabi to see what's currently being assigned.

2. Talk to current students in your intended major. What's on a syllabus before a board review and after are different things. Current undergrads in your field will have the most direct knowledge of what changed.

3. Factor this into your school list. If you're building a list that includes research schools, flagships, and safety options, this news is worth weighing alongside rankings, cost, and fit. Our college planning checklist can help you think through the full picture.

4. Consider out-of-state options. If your intended major falls squarely in affected areas — liberal arts, social sciences, education, philosophy — looking at schools in states with different legislative environments is worth your time.

The detailed guide to Texas A&M admissions covers what the school looks for academically. But what happens inside the classroom after you arrive is equally worth understanding before you commit. For a broader view of how Texas A&M's acceptance rate compares across schools, college acceptance rates gives the national context.

Academic freedom policies differ even within a state. Some Texas campuses have been more aggressive about syllabus reviews than others. Before assuming all Texas public universities are the same, check each campus individually. Student newspapers — The Daily Texan (UT), The Battalion (Texas A&M), and the Daily Toreador (Texas Tech) — often cover what's happening on the ground before official statements do.

The Broader Picture

The Texas restrictions are part of a national pattern. Legislatures in several states have passed or proposed laws that expand political oversight of public university curricula, hiring, and research funding. How far this goes at any specific institution is something students planning for college in 2026 and beyond will need to track on their own, school by school.

For students weighing multiple options, understanding what colleges actually look for in applicants helps with the admissions side of the decision. Understanding what happens after you enroll is the other half of the equation.

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Footnotes

1. Texas Public Radio. (2026, April 8). Political oversight reaches Texas college classrooms, with Texas Tech and A&M at the forefront. Texas Public Radio. https://www.tpr.org/education/2026-04-08/political-oversight-reaches-texas-college-classrooms-with-texas-tech-and-a-m-at-the-forefront ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. National Public Radio. (2026, April 8). Public university professors in Texas say a new law restricts their academic freedom. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2026/04/08/nx-s1-5561690/public-university-professors-in-texas-say-a-new-law-restricts-their-academic-freedom ↩ ↩²