26 Texas Colleges and Universities Selected to Participate in Dana Center-led Collaboration

Transfer Partnership Strategy aims to boost student success by addressing barriers in student transfer policies and practice.

The Texas Transfer Alliance (TTA) has announced the selection of 26 Texas higher education institutions to participate in a one-year collaboration to improve student success in college. Every year, thousands of Texas students transfer between colleges and universities. Due to differences in policies and curricula among institutions, many students face major challenges in transferring course credits, leading to lost time and increased financial burdens that often impact their chances of successfully completing a degree. The Texas Transfer Alliance is a collaboration between the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin, the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC), the Texas A&M University System, the Texas State University System, the University of North Texas System, and the University of Texas System.

Building on prior TTA work, the Dana Center leads this one-year effort, known as the Transfer Partnership Strategy (TPS), which is supported by a recent grant from the Trellis Foundation. Since Fall 2018, TTA has collaborated with three national transfer partners—the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program, HCM Strategists, and Sova—to develop a long-term strategy for improving successful student transfer in Texas, Minnesota, and Virginia.

Research indicates that successful student transfer relies on a broad range of local and regional factors including:

• Alignment of degree requirements policies between colleges and universities to reduce lost credits
• Reduction of time-to degree-completion
• Introduction of student supports to promote the completion of entry-level mathematics and English courses within the first year
• Student advising designed to provide four-year degree completion plans even for students attending two-year institutions

“Changing the transfer landscape to improve student success requires dedicated collaboration between institutions,” said Martha Ellis, the Dana Center’s director of higher education strategy, policy, and services. “Seventy-five percent of Texans who earned a baccalaureate degree took courses at a community college as part of that degree. It is imperative that we work together to make sure students do not lose money, credits, and time when they move from institution to institution to complete their degrees. We anticipate very positive and visible impacts for Texas students, especially those from underrepresented racial and income groups.”

The 26 Texas institutions selected for the Alliance’s TPS work represent two- and four-year institutions across the state. Institutions were chosen based on prior success in student transfer-related efforts as well as their relative sizes and positions within the state’s higher education landscape.

The institutions joining the Transfer Partnership Strategy are:

Alamo Colleges District
Amarillo College
Austin Community College
Collin College
Dallas County Community College District
El Paso Community College
Frank Phillips College
Lone Star College
Navarro College
North Central Texas College
Paris Junior College
Sam Houston State University
San Jacinto College
South Plains College
South Texas College
Texas A&M University–Commerce
Texas A&M University–Kingsville
Texas Southmost College
Texas State University
The University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at San Antonio
University of North Texas
University of North Texas at Dallas
West Texas A&M University

For more information, please contact:

Erich Pelletier, Communications Coordinator
The Charles A. Dana Center
The University of Texas at Austin
512.232.0899
epelletier@austin.utexas.edu

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