UHV, TSTC partner to offer transfer plan
Students at Texas State Technical College who want to add a bachelor’s degree to their credentials soon will benefit from a new transfer agreement with the University of Houston-Victoria.
The plan allows students who receive an Associate of Applied Arts & Sciences at TSTC to transfer to UHV to continue their studies toward a Bachelor of Applied Arts & Sciences at the Victoria campus, UHV Katy or online, depending on the students’ chosen concentrations. The program will work especially well for students with technical training who want to add more academic credentials to their resume for future promotion opportunities, said Karla DeCuir, UHV senior director of enrollment management & external affairs.
“This transfer plan will allow students to improve their employment prospects with stackable credentials,” DeCuir said. “They will receive technical training and experience at TSTC, then they can come to UHV to finish out the more academic side of their education. Many employers are looking for applicants with both technical training and academic knowledge.”
The transfer program will include UHV’s B.A.A.S. program concentrations, including communication, digital gaming, psychology, legal assistance and administration, general studies, general business, marketing, petroleum technology, web and media, computer information systems, biology and biomedical sciences. Students will apply for admission just like any other student.
To be eligible for the transfer program, students will take their core academic programs at TSTC, such as freshman and sophomore English, history, science and mathematics courses. Those credits would transfer to UHV, where students will take the final 30 or 40 credit hours of their chosen bachelor’s programs. The program is a state-wide initiative that applies to all TSTC students at any of the school’s branch campuses. One of the major benefits is that the agreement gives students a clear path forward after earning associate degrees, said Justin Weeaks, director of strategic relations at TSTC.
“This program will cut out the confusion students may experience because they will already have a set plan for which courses they need to take to proceed toward a bachelor’s degree,” Weeaks said. “Even if students want to circle back after returning to the working world for a while, they will have a clear way forward.”
One of the misconceptions UHV’s recruiters have come across when talking with students from technical schools and community colleges at recruiting events is that they will have to start at square one and redo a lot of courses to get a bachelor’s degree, DeCuir said. Often, students are pleased to find out that their credits will transfer to UHV, and this agreement will allow TSTC students to benefit even more.
“TSTC has a longstanding goal of having high-quality higher education partners,” Weeaks said. “We are excited to offer this program to our students and partner with UHV to promote higher education in Texas.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
