Transferring from a community college isn’t easy. It’s a long, arduous process, filled with countless potential roadblocks that can quickly complicate a student’s experience.
Texas universities know this — and they’ve identified the biggest barriers in need of addressing.
A lack of financial aid, too few course offerings and a shortage of staff rank among the top challenges that higher education leaders should tackle to help transfer students, according to results of a 2024 survey taken by 37 public universities in Texas.
The survey, administrated by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and shared with the Texas Legislature annually, offers insight into the main obstacles hindering prospective transfer students. Each university was allowed to list its top five barriers out of 16 possible options.
About 18,500 students in Texas transferred to an in-state university, according to the THECB.
Shared struggles
By a slim margin, a lack of financial aid ranked as the top barrier listed by the participating universities. Texas’ community college system ranks as the sixth-cheapest for in-state students in the nation, with tuition costing an average of about $3,100 per year, according to researchers at the Education Data Initiative. But the average in-state tuition and fees at a four-year institution totals about $8,600 per year.
Student advising and logistical issues also were a common barrier identified by universities. Those challenges included inaccurate advising of community college students and too many students taking courses that don’t count toward an undergraduate degree at a university.
Texas has spent more than a decade dealing with the problem of community college credits not transferring with students. The Texas Legislature passed a law in 2015 that aimed to make information about which courses transfer more accessible and required colleges and universities to report which credits won’t travel.
Hang-ups in Houston
For the five Houston-area colleges that took the survey, the most common issues listed were a lack of course and program alignment, students transferring with excessive hours, and insufficient staff or financial resources at the institution facilitating community college transfers.
The five participating schools were Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M universities, Texas A&M University at Galveston, University of Houston-Clear Lake and University of Houston-Downtown.
Some schools have started working to address these issues, such as through local community college partnerships. Texas A&M University at Galveston, for example, described a pilot program with San Jacinto College to develop a joint landing page for stronger student advising and transferability.
Keeping transfers in school
Even after moving to a university, transfer students face an uphill battle to graduate compared to other students. About 68 percent of transfers who reach their junior year graduate within four years, compared to 86 percent of non-transfers.
For this reason, schools have also implemented various supports to help their students transition to a university and graduate on time.
The most common support offered by Houston-area universities participating in the survey were academic services, such as math and writing labs. Non-academic services, such as on-campus child care services or commuting assistance, were the rarest.
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