Grant Summary
$500,000 over 60 months to build capacity at 46 Texas community colleges to implement guided transfer pathways at scale to reach their entire student bodies. Guided pathways refer to highly defined, structured, and coherent curricula leading to a postsecondary credential that is aligned to high-quality employment, either directly after community college, or post-transfer after attainment of a bachelor’s degree. Research indicates that such pathways are very effective in attracting, retaining, and graduating low-income students. Colleges will participate in waves as they establish the capacity to implement pathways at scale, as evidenced by strong commitment from their presidents, boards, and faculty leaders; sufficient data depicting students’ experiences with entering, progressing, and succeeding in their chosen areas of study; early pilots to streamline curriculum and strengthen advising; and strong partnerships with public schools and four-year colleges. This cohort of colleges will send teams of faculty, administrators, and trustees to a series of institutes and regional workshops covering change management strategies, curriculum mapping and course redesign, changes to student intake and advising, student learning assessment, and institution performance evaluation. They will also get access to trained “coaches,” experienced community college leaders or researchers who will work closely with their assigned campus teams to offer guidance and feedback as they move towards full implementation. This project will be coordinated by the Texas Success Center at the Texas Association of Community Colleges. The project will be supported by two state agencies, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as well as through philanthropic support from Greater Texas, T.L.L. Temple, Trellis, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations.