WASHINGTON, March 15, 2016—Excelencia in Education received a grant from Greater Texas Foundation to examine and expand the use of innovative transfer and completion strategies for Texas students.  The project, called “Practice to Policy for Latino Student Success in Higher Education: Looking at Transfers,” began February 2016 will last until May 2017.

The $285,990 grant will support Excelencia in Education’s efforts to apply insights gained through "Engaging Latino Student in Transfer and College Completion," a collaboration between the Center for Community College Student Engagement, the National Survey for Student Engagement and Excelencia in Education that is focused on strengthening Latino student engagement, transfer and college completion.

“Excelencia in Education is nationally recognized for identifying effective, evidence-based practices that accelerate higher educational success for Latino students,” said Sarita Brown, President of Excelencia in Education.  “With this new grant, and partnership with Greater Texas Foundation, we will concentrate on expanding the use of innovative transfer and completion strategies in Texas.”

“About 80 percent of Latino community college students in Texas indicate they plan to transfer to a university, but less than 20 percent actually do,” said Dr. Wynn Rosser, President and CEO of Greater Texas Foundation. “This collaboration will continue to build our knowledge base about increasing success for the Texas Latino student population while providing Texas higher education institutions and policy makers research based and actionable information to more effectively serve and graduate all students.”

Focusing on core takeaways from five pairs of participating Texas community colleges and baccalaureate institutions that participated in the prior initiative, Excelencia in Education will analyze policy perspectives emerging from institutional efforts and strategies.

The analysis will provide insight on institutional and state policies to increase preparation and transfer, including inclusive articulation agreements between institutions, not just between disciplines.  It may also address changes that promote acceptance of all credits for students who receive an associate degree enrolling in a baccalaureate program, align transfers and financial aid availability, and identify ways public policy can facilitate degree scaffolding—transferring after getting a degree.  Additionally, through the project, Excelencia in Education will look for broader policy implications for issues such as the transfer experience for graduates of early college high schools.