The big picture
According to a June 11 news release, officials from the ACD and TAMUSA will be enlarging their respective Promise programs, which are designed to streamline the pathway for degree-seeking students.
AlamoPromise is a program that provides tuition-free college education at one of the five ACD campuses to 20 school districts and partners, including 73 San Antonio-area high schools and programs, as well as private, charter and home schools in Bexar County.
TAMUSA’s Jaguar Promise program provides free tuition, fees and a $300 book stipend per semester for eligible first-year and transfer students.
Leaders with ACD and TAMUSA said they are building upon a five-year-old agreement, the Promise-to-Promise partnership, between Alamo Colleges and the south side Texas A&M campus that established a formal transfer partnership between the two institutions.
The details
According to the release, expansion of the Promise-to-Promise partnership between ACD and TAMUSA will have a positive impact on students in other transfer tracks:
- TAMUSA’s Jag Path program: This is for first-year students applying to TAMUSA who may not qualify for direct admission. Students who accept the Jag Path program offer are dually accepted to ACD for the fall term without completing an application to ACD.
- Jag Bound for ACD students: This is for ACD students who apply during the fall or spring term, have yet to attend another college or university, express their intention to transfer to TAMUSA by the end of their first term at ACD, and enroll in 60 semester credit hours.
- Seamless Three Tier Transfer Program: This is for high school students from identified public school districts who complete dual enrollment with ACD; earn an associate degree in teaching, or associate of arts or science degree; and are admitted to TAMUSA to finish their bachelor's degree in education, child development or another agreed-upon track.
Representatives of both TAMUSA and ACD said the expanding partnership strengthens the collaborative student support system across the partnering institutions. Officials from both institutions also said such partnerships will help thousands of students save money and cut the amount of time it takes to finish a bachelor’s degree.
About 75% of ACD students transfer to four-year universities to complete their degrees. During the 2023-24 academic year, 2,007 students transferred from Alamo Colleges to TAMUSA. Over the past five years, 83% of the students who transferred to TAMUSA were affiliated with Alamo Colleges.
Salvador Ochoa, TAMUSA president, said the Promise-to-Promise partnership represents a mutual commitment made by the partner institutions to opening multiple pathways and entry points for students.
“Texas A&M-San Antonio is a place where access meets opportunity, and with the Promise-to-Promise, we’re removing financial and procedural barriers to access so that these students, who come to us so well-prepared by our colleagues in the Alamo Colleges, can pursue the educational opportunities that a four-year university has to offer them,” Ochoa said in a statement.
