HOUSTON, UNIVERSITY OF

state university system consisting of the main campus in Houston, Texas, the Downtown campus in Houston, and two-year colleges at Clear Lake and Victoria. The main campus consists of 12 colleges, including the Cullen College of Engineering and the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, a graduate school of social work, and a law centre. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. The main campus is home to the Texas Center for Super Conductivity. The university has been noted for its research in physical sciences and for graduate instruction in engineering; in addition, it is among the few American institutions with a doctoral program in creative writing. Total enrollment for the university system is approximately 50,000. The University of Houston was founded in 1927. It began as a junior college and was elevated to university status in 1934. The Downtown school, which first offered courses in 1942, evolved into the University of HoustonDowntown in 1983. The two junior colleges, Clear Lake and Victoria, were established in 1971 and 1972, respectively.