Beginning fall 2024, Texas State is partnering with Collin College and San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District (SMCISD) to increase pathways for students to become Bobcats.
Texas State announced on Aug. 13 that it has joined the Academic Alliance, a co-enrollment program. This program allows students to first earn an associate degree at Collin College Technical Campus in Allen, then transfer to Texas State to complete their bachelor’s degree.
According to the Collin College website, Academic Alliance also includes a transfer program with the University of Texas at Dallas, which offers degree programs different from those at Texas State.
“One of the big frustrations that transfer students have across the country is when they do decide to transfer to a four-year institution, do they lose any of their credits?” Gary Ray, associate vice president for enrollment management at Texas State said. “By having this program… you eliminate all of that confusion. It’s clear to the student what they need to take and when they need to take it.”
Students have the option to complete their four-year Texas State degree on the Collin College campus.
Thillainatarajan Sivakumaran, vice president for TXST Global, said Collin College will hire full-time Texas State faculty specifically for Academic Alliance. These faculty members will be permanently based at Collin College to teach in person, while other courses may be offered online.
Students who opt into the co-enrollment model and complete more than 50% of their coursework offered by Collin College are expected to save as much as $19,000 in tuition and fees, according to a Texas State press release.
“One of the things that we try to do at Texas State is make education affordable to students,” Sivakumaran said. “You could either come to us for a degree or we could bring a degree to you.”
According to Jamie Mills, dean of Academic Partnerships at Collin College, other benefits Academic Alliance students will have are: advising at Collin College by Texas State staff, access to student resources on both campuses, including the Texas State library, access to Texas State students organizations and study abroad opportunities.
“We want them to be part of our community,” Mills said. “They can be in Collin College organizations and Texas State organizations at the same time, so they’re not hindered by not being on campus.”
According to the Collin College website, some degrees offered through the Academic Alliance are a bachelor’s in computer science and exercise sports science, both available in spring 2025.
“Collin College being a community college, our mission is to create people with skills that benefit the community and what then the community needs,” Mills said. “If our community needs these computer science people and engineering people… that’s our job, it’s to make sure our community has what it needs.”
Texas State also announced a partnership with SMCISD on Aug. 26, allowing around 30 SMCISD students to take dual credit classes at Texas State this fall, with tuition waived for a range of college courses.
According to SMCISD Chief of Communications Andrew Fernandez, SMCISD is providing students transportation to the Texas State campus for classes. As the program continues, SMCISD plans to allow more students to participate.
“It’s exciting especially for those that have grown up in San Marcos, and all they know is Texas State,” Fernandez said. “If they can get that education for free within our public school system, it just provides more opportunity for those that may not have seen college as possible.”
