Galveston County Daily News, July 24, 2007 The University of Texas Medical Branch is opening a center to prepare disadvantaged Texas students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The medical branch has received a $1.25 million grant to open one of seven such centers across the state. Politicians have often complained that Texas students fall short of their peers from other states in the four subjects. Texas students have historically performed worse than all other states on state standardized exams in math and science. State standards in these subjects are so low, in fact, that the Texas Education Agency rates a campus acceptable if 40 percent of its students pass the science exam and 45 percent pass the math exam.