TCC students given help to get to 4-year schools

Tulsa Community College and five northeast Oklahoma universities launched a collaborative effort Friday to improve the success of students transferring from TCC to any of the four-year institutions.

Partners in the Tulsa Transfer Project are Langston University, Northeastern State University, Oklahoma State University, Rogers State University and the University of Tulsa.

On average, transfer students lose 13 credit hours through the transition from a community college to a four-year university, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

President Leigh Goodson said TCC is the state’s largest provider of transfer students. Tulsa Transfer Project not only will help TCC students succeed, but also will help increase the number of bachelor’s degrees in the community, Goodson said.

During the 2017-18 academic year, 3,419 students transferred from TCC into a bachelor’s degree program with more than half transferring to either Langston, NSU, OSU, RSU or TU.

The John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education will provide the framework for the project, including a self-assessment by each school and then collaboration to improve the overall transfer experience. Designed to take two years, the project is sponsored locally by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

“Unfortunately, many who go to college face barriers along the way, and the goal of earning a bachelor’s degree becomes out of reach,” said Michael DuPont, foundation program officer in the announcement. “In supporting this partnership, it is our hope that participating institutions will improve the way they serve transfer students as they work toward completing a degree and achieving their goals.”