ACC, Texas State partner to launch new program for transfer students

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Community College has partnered with Texas State University to participate in a new pilot program to help more students successfully transfer.

ACC says that national data shows students from communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic struggle to persist through to a four-year university after earning their two-year degree at a community college.

ACC was chosen among 29 other institutions nationwide to help identify solutions to this growing problem because of the college’s tracked success in closing equity gaps, says the district.

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The two institutions are partnering for the new Transfer Student Success and Equity Intensive — a project founded and funded by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

The Intensive provides a unique opportunity for community colleges and four-year institutions to come together to develop and implement institution policies and practices that ensure equitable access, retention, and graduation outcomes, says ACC.

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The program will span the next year through February 2023. Teams will receive one-on-one consulting with experts and work to identify, collect, understand, and utilize critical transfer outcomes and equity data, says ACC. Teams will also attend monthly sessions focused on co-creating practices and policies to improve transfer student success and equity.

ACC and Texas State were selected from an applicant pool of 97 institutions and three systems from 25 states. Together, these cohorts account for a total enrollment of nearly a million undergraduate students.