The University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) has secured a $378,000 grant from Greater Texas Foundation to pilot an innovative transfer program. Announced April 1, the funding will support the CLASS 2+2 Program, designed to make a UH degree more accessible to community college students.
This large-scale pilot leverages partnerships with existing Houston Guided Pathways to Success (GPS) two-year institutions, a regional consortium focused on improving students’ access to Gulf Coast-area colleges and universities. Through the CLASS 2+2 program, students can earn their associate degrees at participating regional colleges and be guaranteed transfer admission into UH to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
“I get many questions around college access and there’s a lot of anxiety,” says Todd Romero, a CLASS associate dean and key player in the program’s creation. “The 2+2 model provides an opportunity for students in area community colleges to then come to UH. The goal is to make that transfer seamless so that, if they hit all their marks, they can graduate in four years, save money and enter the workforce.”
Transfer student success remains a significant challenge for many higher education institutions. Recent survey data paints a stark picture: less than half of students who transfer into universities ultimately complete their bachelor’s degrees. Creating simplified, seamless pathways into the university better positions UH students to graduate and succeed in their careers.
“The CLASS 2+2 Program advances our mission of graduating students who can contribute immediately to strengthening the Texas economy,” says Diane Chase, senior vice president for academic affairs and UH provost. “By creating these new transfer pathways, UH is not only increasing educational access for students across our region but also ensuring they graduate with the critical thinking and communication skills employers identify as essential.”
Strengthening the transfer pipeline, however, is only half the work. A key focus of the CLASS 2+2 program will be deepening participating students' sense of belonging and connection to their new university, a challenge that Romero navigated firsthand decades earlier.
"I went from a small college in western Colorado to a major university," Romero says. "When I transferred, it was like I was dropped into a conversation that had already started two years earlier. Everything was structured for first-time-in-college students. I had a good experience, but it was bumpy at times."
Adjusting programs to better accommodate transfer students' unique experiences will make it easier for them to take advantage of university resources. Launched within the largest college in the UH system, the CLASS 2+2 Program will better integrate these new students into existing student organizations, such as the CLASS Ambassadors, while creating new opportunities tailored to their experience.
"We have found that the act of joining other students in a shared interest and having common purpose through organizations or activities is really important to students' academic success," Romero says.
Greater Texas Foundation’s grant positions CLASS to create pathways for dozens of humanities and social sciences degrees across the college's 14 academic departments. The program is slated to launch in the 2025-26 academic year.
Similar transfer programs have been successfully implemented at other public universities across the nation, providing helpful models for this pilot.
Agreements with four regional institutions are already underway, with more partnerships planned in the coming months.
About Greater Texas Foundation: Greater Texas Foundation is a private foundation based in Bryan, Texas, that supports efforts to ensure all Texas students are prepared for, have access to, persist in, and complete a postsecondary education. Since its 2001 inception, the foundation has approved more than $150 million in grants to support Texas students. For more information, visit https://www.greatertexasfoundation.org/