Each week, “Answer Key” aims to help families by responding to an important question about education and schools in Greater Houston. If you have a question for us to answer, please email us at education@houstonlanding.org or fill out the form at the end of this article.
This week’s question:
Can anyone attend the Houston area’s community colleges?
Community colleges are known for their accessibility to any person hoping to learn.
But how open are Houston’s community colleges, and who is eligible to attend?
The Houston Landing surveyed eight colleges across the Houston area — including Houston Community College, Lone Star College and San Jacinto College — to understand who can enroll and what requirements applicants must fulfill.
Are community colleges open to anyone?
Community colleges serving Houstonians are open-enrollment institutions. This means that almost anyone can apply, including U.S. citizens, permanent residents, undocumented residents, and certain visa holders. All of Houston’s community colleges also allow non-citizens residing overseas to apply through an international student admission process.
Those who apply and meet a college’s admission requirements are guaranteed enrollment, with few exceptions.
“People keep themselves from being eligible when they don’t take the first step to apply,” said Rima Adil, Houston Community College’s interim vice chancellor of student services.
Does it cost anything to apply?
No — for the most part.
It’s free for domestic students to apply to Houston’s community colleges. Some colleges require international students to pay an application fee.
What do I need?
There’s a few things you’ll need before you’re eligible to be enrolled in community college. These are:
- Documentation showing high school completion, such as high school transcripts.
- If you didn’t complete high school, community colleges require you to have passed one of Texas’ two approved high school equivalency assessments: the GED (General Education Development) test or the HiSET (High School Equivalency Test exam).
- If you submit a college transcript that shows you’ve completed college-level courses before, you won’t need to submit a high school transcript.
- Texas law requires that students younger than 22 must show proof of having received a bacterial meningitis vaccine at least 10 days before the start of classes, or request an exemption from receiving the vaccine.
- Sometimes, students have to take the Texas Success Initiative, or TSI, exam — if their high school transcripts or test scores do not exempt them — before they are eligible to enroll in courses. The test results determine if a student is ready to be placed in college-level core classes for English and mathematics. Students not meeting TSI benchmarks may need to take remedial courses.
What are the exceptions to enrolling?
Community colleges have few academic restrictions, but this does come with exceptions.
While the institutions are open to most people, not all of a college’s offerings are. Some programs — such as Houston Community College’s dental program or San Jacinto College’s nursing program — may have further academic requirements, like a minimum GPA or required completion of certain classes.
Some colleges and programs also restrict access to registered sex offenders and people with certain criminal convictions or disciplinary issues at other schools.
Miranda covers Houston’s community colleges for the Houston Landing in partnership with Open Campus. Despite roughly half of Houston’s higher-education students attending community colleges, there hasn’t been much news covering these systems or students — until now. Her reporting holds institutions accountable, highlights barriers faced by students and helps them navigate their opportunities. If you have ideas or questions, reach Miranda at miranda@houstonlanding.org.
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