On Aug. 3, Rice University officials announced a major expansion of its signature financial aid program to offer free tuition to students from families earning less than $200,000 annually.

What's happening: A news release from the university states that the expanded program will open to students entering school in fall 2027. The program will offer:

• Free tuition for students from families earning between $100,000 and $200,000 annually

• Full coverage of tuition, mandatory fees and room and board for students from families earning less than $100,000 annually

Previously, the financial aid program covered tuition, mandatory fees and room and board for students from families earning $75,000 or less and provided free tuition to students from families earning between $75,000 and $140,000.

Some background: Rice officials originally launched the financial aid program known as the Rice Investment in 2019. Since then, the university has provided more than $1 billion in financial aid, a 75% increase compared to the seven years before the program's launch, according to the university's website.

A new head spa is coming to the Upper Kirby area.

What is it: Nhien Head Spa & Wellness is a spa that specializes in scalp and hair treatment and currently has one location in Katy.

According to its site, Nhien is an authentic Vietnamese head spa experience that focuses on scalp health, deep relaxation and holistic wellness.

Services include hydrotherapy, scalp detox and massage techniques that focus on relieving tension. It also includes aromatherapy, facial care, nail care and waxes.

The details: The newest location will open at Plaza in the Park on Buffalo Speedway. The facility is 18,000 square feet and will undergo an estimated $265,000 in renovations and alterations, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Work to be completed includes an interior buildout of a salon spa. According to TDLR, the work is expected to begin Sept. 1 and is estimated to be completed by November 2027.

• 5158 Buffalo Speedway, Ste. 160, Houston

Houston airport workers will receive a minimum wage increase of $5 for a new wage of $20 an hour, which will gradually rise to $23 an hour by 2028.

What this means: Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order Aug. 12 alongside members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the labor union that represents airport workers, that would immediately begin the new wages.

Workers employed by air carriers, concessions and airport contractors will qualify for the raise.

“This helps, but this is just the beginning,” Whitmire said. “It's not going to be just wages. It's going to be working conditions.”

Before signing the executive order, the minimum wage was $15 an hour at Houston airports, including Hobby and IAH. This is the first salary increase for Houston workers since 2023, when former Mayor Sylvester Turner raised their minimum wage from $12 to $15 an hour.

One more thing: The increase is scheduled to go up to $21 in January 2027, $22 in October 2027 and by 2028 it will be $23 an hour.

CenterPoint Energy officials announced a new initiative that aims to provide savings of up to $5 billion to all residential and small- to medium-sized businesses over the next decade in an Aug. 11 news release.

The big picture: The initiative stems from both the strengthening of requirements for large load energy users like data centers in the 89th Legislative Session and a project to add 14 gigawatts of energy load to CenterPoint Energy's service area.

Senate Bill 6 was authorized in the 89th Legislative Session and requires any development that expects to utilize over 75 megawatts of power at any point to pay higher overall energy costs.

In their words: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to generate historic levels of customer savings of more than $5 billion statewide by leveraging new investment in large projects to build a more affordable, reliable and resilient electric grid for millions of customers," CenterPoint Energy Chairman and CEO Jason Wells said.

Ahead of the 2026-27 school year, public school leaders in Community Impact’s coverage areas shuttered at least nine individual schools to respond to repeated state accountability issues and stave off state intervention. A new Texas Education Agency rule may make it harder for districts to do so in the future.

The details: Beginning Aug. 16, if a district closes a D- or F-rated campus and transfers the largest share of students from the closed campus to a school with a C, D or F rating, the closed campus’ rating will be assigned to the new campus. 

Districts will only avoid transferring a shuttered school’s rating history if they relocate a plurality of students to an A- or B-rated campus.

Stay tuned: The TEA is scheduled to release A-F ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14. If a school receives five failing ratings in a row, the TEA is required under state law to close that campus or replace the district’s board of trustees with a state-appointed board of managers.

Community Impact is seeking input from Bellaire residents who would like to share their thoughts on the city’s plan for more commercial development in the new fiscal year that could result in easing parking regulations and creating one or more special districts. If you are interested, please reach out to [email protected]. Must be willing to speak on record.