Rosario Sanchez, a senior research scientist at Texas Water Resources Institute at Texas A&M University, said the state is looking for "predictability and reliability, which is what Mexico has not been able to do over the last 15 years or so."

NPR's A Martinez speaks with senior research engineer Jonathan Snodgrass at Texas A&M University about the safety of power grids after three countries in Europe experienced blackouts.

And a new kind of degree is also becoming more common: Dual-licensure or "unified" degree programs aim to prepare students to earn both general education and special education certification. These programs are sprouting up across the country, including at Texas A&M, Wichita State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

It's no surprise that soaring egg costs have left many Americans looking elsewhere for a source of protein. Ironically, that attitude shift may be helping keep egg prices from rising even further. "That should happen, because high prices is really the market signal to us consumers to buy fewer eggs. If we buy fewer eggs, that leads to some lower prices," David Anderson, a livestock economist and professor at Texas A&M University, said in an email.