Accelerating Bachelor Degree Completion in a Single Click

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas Foundation (ICUTF) is partnering with the Texas Association of Community Colleges and College Consortium on a new initiative accelerating completion and reducing costs to bachelor's degrees. The ICUTF Transfer Portal will use College Consortium's academic sharing platform to connect associate's degree earners with transfer-friendly online bachelor's degrees at private, nonprofit universities in Texas.

The portal is made possible by a National Ventures Fund grant from the Council of Independent Colleges and is designed to increase the number of students graduating with a bachelor's degree by featuring online pathways which are both more convenient and affordable.  The average associate degree earner in Texas has attempted 92 credit hours, yet most schools only accept 60 upon transfer. The participating 4-year schools have leaner majors accepting up to 90 credit hours, allowing students to earn their bachelor's degree in as little as a year and with little out-of-pocket cost.

"Together, we're creating seamless pathways for students to earn their associate degree and continue on to a bachelor's," says Dr. Richard Rhodes, President/CEO of Austin Community College.

"Students may think a degree from a private, nonprofit school is out of reach, that's just not true," says Ray Martinez, ICUTF President.

In addition to aggregating the bachelor's degrees, the portal automates the articulation, application and admissions process securely transferring data between the 2- and 4-year schools' SIS. Learn more at www.collegeconsortium.org/transfer.

ICUTF

The ICUT Foundation collaborates with institutional members, businesses, and relevant stakeholders to raise funds to develop and implement innovative programs and administer privately-funded scholarship opportunities for students attending Texas independent colleges and universities, especially underserved student populations. www.icut.org

Sam Rauschenfels
(512) 615-9320
[email protected]

Texas Success Center at TACC

The Texas Success Center was established to tighten the linkage between practice, research, and policy, enabling Texas community colleges to benefit from national research and promising practices on how to accelerate degree completion. www.tacc.org

Jessica Vess
(512) 223-7596
[email protected]

College Consortium

College Consortium is a higher education technology company whose academic sharing platform allows colleges to share courses, degrees, and tuition revenue to retain and degree more students. The transfer portal is the latest release of the academic sharing platform, which currently has over 45 colleges and universities collaborating to increase student completion in less than a year. www.collegeconsortium.org

Nathan Green
(917) 309-1877
[email protected]

SOURCE Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas Foundation