Carroll ISD launched the Distinguished High School Partnership Program for the 2025-26 school year, which is designed to help CISD graduates earn automatic admittance into colleges or universities if they meet certain criteria.

The overview

The district currently partners with Texas Tech University, Tarleton State University, Howard Payne University and McMurry University, said Gina Peddy, executive director of curriculum and instruction.

“We're looking at our kids that work really hard, they make really good grades, but due to extenuating circumstances [or] test anxiety, they are worried about college admissions,” Peddy said. “Just knowing [they] ... will automatically be accepted into [a] college takes some of the stress and the pressure off.”

The program doesn’t cost the district any money, and it allows the partnering universities to offer a way for students to apply for scholarships, as well, she said.

More details

Each college or university that the district partners with has different criteria for getting into the schools, according to the district’s website.

• Texas Tech University offers automatic admission to graduates who meet specific class rank and test score criteria.
• Tarleton State University offers automatic acceptance to graduating seniors within the top 50% of their class.
• Howard Payne University admits all graduates with an unweighted grade point average above 3.5.
• McMurry University admits all graduates with an unweighted GPA above 3.5.

All universities waive the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the American College Test submission requirements, though some scholarships may still require scores, according to CISD’s website. Texas Tech University, Tarleton State University and Howard Payne University also waive their application fees for students in this program.

Some of the universities have different scholarships for high school graduates, as well, according to the district’s website.

• Tarleton State University gives an academic scholarship ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on class rank and test scores. The scholarship money will be given annually for four years.
• Howard Payne University gives graduates who are in the top 50% of their class a $60,000 scholarship, which will be divided over the course of four years. Higher merit scholarships may be given based on academics.

What’s next?

CISD staff is working to partner with University of Missouri and Texas Woman’s University in Denton for automatic admission for graduates, Peddy said. An agreement with Texas Woman’s University will be brought to the CISD board of trustees for approval Sept. 22.

“It's not about how many, it's more about the quality that we get with [university partnerships],” Peddy said. “We will have roughly five to six [university agreements.] For right now, we feel like that's a good number.”

CISD counselors will talk with different colleges and universities throughout the year to see if any other higher education institutions are interested in partnering with Carroll ISD for automatic acceptance opportunities, Peddy said.