The Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas Foundation (ICUTF) is partnering with the Texas Success Center at the Texas Association of Community Colleges and College Consortium, a leading higher education technology company, to launch a new initiative accelerating completion and reducing the cost of bachelor’s degrees. The ICUT Foundation Transfer Portal will use an extension of College Consortium’s academic sharing platform to connect associate degree-earners with transfer-friendly degrees at private, nonprofit colleges and universities in Texas, such as Houston Baptist University.
With assistance from participating community colleges, the Transfer Portal will show students the cost and time savings of earning their degree from a regionally accredited, ICUTF member institution. The pilot phase begins with fully online degrees, and is made possible by a National Ventures Fund grant from the Council of Independent Colleges.
Through the Transfer Portal, students will be able to apply, be instantly accepted, and have necessary records securely transferred to their chosen four-year school, streamlining the transfer process and reducing time-to-degree using the innovative system built by College Consortium.
“Students may think a degree from a private, nonprofit school is out of reach— that’s just not true,” said Ray Martinez, ICUTF president. “This initiative puts bachelor’s degree programs from ICUTF member institutions in the reach of thousands of associate degree-earners across Texas in a way that has never been done before.”
HBU President Dr. Robert B. Sloan said, “The Transfer Portal is a wonderful idea, and a way to ensure each student completes his or her degree. Houston Baptist University has programs and aid available for both freshmen and transfer students. I encourage students to apply.”
The Transfer Portal features several unique elements:
- Includes more than 60 online degrees from six ICUTF schools that students can complete from anywhere, at their own pace, more quickly and more affordably than existing options
- Securely accesses transcript and financial aid data from the student’s two-year school to package, admit and show them the real cost and time to complete their four-year degree
- Further discounts the pilot’s competitive tuition rates through a generous scholarship from the ICUT Foundation and each participating institution
To learn more, go to www.collegeconsortium.org/transfer.