AUSTIN, Texas — State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, does not care to hear about the state’s education goals not being met.

“It makes me very sad and frustrated,” Branch said at a recent hearing of the House Higher Education Committee, which he heads. “I get heartburn, and I tend to get cranky.”

At that hearing, Raymund Paredes, the state’s higher education commissioner, outlined Texas’ latest enrollment numbers. According to preliminary data gathered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the total number of students attending college this fall increased by just 12,000, to about 1.563 million, over the previous year, a significant slowing in the state’s progress toward its objectives.

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